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DUX  CHRISTUS 

AN  OUTLINE   STUDY 
OF  JAPAN 


From  JONES' - 
BOOK  STORE, 

L»C  ANGELES. 


WILLIAM  ELLIOT  GRIFFIS 


VIA    CHRISTI 

Aq  Introduction  to  iht  Study  of  Miariona 
By  LOUISE  MANNING  HODGKINS,  M^ 
Paper,  30  cents,  net  C2oth,  50  cents,  net 

Holiday  edition,  Gilt,  60  cents,  net 


1 


W.  F.  Warren,  President  Boston  University : 

"  Via  Christi  shows  scholarly  estimate  of  the  value  and  enjoy- 
ableness  of  historic  sources,  as  contrasted  with  rhetorical  elaboration 
merely  suggested  by  the  sources.  Though  but  a  little  50-cent  vol- 
ume it  would  be  hard  to  find  in  any  book  three  times  iu  size  an 
equal  "number  of  prayers,  hymns,  and  striking  appeals,  written  by 
the  great  historic  representatives  of  the  missionary  spirit  themselves. 
The  book  is  admirably  presented  by  the  Macmillan  Company." 

The  Christian  Endeavor  World: 

"  One  of  the  results  of  the  Ecumenical  Missionary  Conference 
of  1900  was  the  uniting  of  all  the  Women's  Missionary  Boards  in 
the  United  States  and  Canada  for  the  publication  of  a  thorough  and 
complete  course  of  a  study  of  missions.  The  initial  volume  is 
entitled  Via  Ckristi,  and  is  by  a  most  competent  and  attractive 
writer,  Miss  Louise  Manning  Hodgkins.  In  six  chapters  the  reader 
is  conducted  through  the  vast  course  of  history,  extending  from  the 
days  of  Paul  to  those  of  Carey  and  Judson.  The  author  has  not 
made  the  mistake  of  putting  in  so  much  that  the  charm  and  rivid- 
ness  of  the  narrative  are  crowded  out.  One  of  the  most  attractive 
features  of  the  volume  is  the  set  of  selections  from  the  period  under 
review  at  the  close  of  each  chapter  and  the  effptt.vely  arranged 
chronological  tables." 

New  York  Tribune: 

"  Via.  Christi  gives  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  missionary  efforts  of 
the  world  from  the  time  of  Paul  to  the  nineteenth  century.  Con- 
temporaneous events  in  the  secular  world  are  mentioned,  with 
names  of  prominent  people  and  places  of  the  period,  giving  a 

Perspective  as  satisfying  as  it  is  unusual  ^_  Miss  Hodgkins  makes 
er  story  read  like  one  delightful  romance." 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
(^  Fifth  Arcnuc,  New  Yotk 


DUX   CHMSTUS 


AN  OUTLINE  STUDY  OF  JAPAN 


BY 

WILLIAM   ELLIOT   GRIFFIS 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

LONDON:  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Ltd. 

1904 

All  rights  reserved 


146115 


COPYKIGHT,    1904, 

bt  the  macmillan  company. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  June,  1904. 

PUBLISHED   FOE   THE   CENTRAL   COMMITTEE 
ON  THE  UNITED  STUDY  OF  MISSIONS. 


Nortoooli  ^K88 

J.  S.  Gushing  &  Co.  — Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


BV 


(^    an    \     STATEMENT 
OF  THE   CENTRAL    COMMITTEE    0" 


UNITED    STUDY   OF  MISSION  ij 

It  is  hoped  that  this  fourtli  volume  of  the  United  Study 
Series  will  find  as  warm  a  welcome  as  those  that  have  pre- 
ceded it.  Since  the  publication  of  the  first  book  of  the 
course  in  1900,  the  sales  of  "Via  Christi:  An  Introduc- 
tion to  the  Study  of  Missions,"  "Lux  Christi:  An  Outline 
Study  of  India,"  and  "Rex  Christus  :  An  Outline  Study  of 
China,"  have  amounted  to  150,000  copies. 

"  Dux  Christus:  An  Outline  Study  of  Japan,"  appears  at 
a  time  when  the  attention  of  the  world  is  centred  on  this 
island  empire.  Every  Christian  woman  should  feel  bound 
to  study  not  only  the  news  of  the  war  and  the  political 
clianges  in  Japan,  but  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  of  Peace 
as  well. 

Rev.  William  Elliot  Griilis,  D.D.,  the  author  of  our  text- 
book, is  well  known  tl  ;ough  his  standard  works,  "The 
Mikado's  Empire,"  "Japan  in  History,  Folklore,  and  Art," 
and  "The  Religions  of  Japan."  He  has  been  a  lifelong 
student  of  the  country  and  its  people. 

Mrs.  NORMAN  MATHER  WATERBURY,  Chairman, 

Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  Mass. 

Miss  E.  HARRIET  ST  AN  WOOD, 

704  ('ongregational  House,  Boston,  Mass. 

Miss  ELLEN  C.  PARSONS, 

Presbyterian  Building, 
156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City. 

Mrs.  J.  T.  GRACEY, 

m  Pearl  street,  Iioche>,ter,  N.Y. 

Mrs.  HARRIET  L.  SCUDDER, 

Church  Missions  House, 
Uh  Avenue  and  22d  Street,  New  York  City. 

Miss  CLEMENTINA  BUTLER, 

Secretary  and  Trbasubbb, 

Newti/ii  Centre,  Mass. 
V 


PREFACE 

As  a  field  for  the  prayer  and  missionary- 
labors  of  Protestant  Christian  people,  Japan 
has  pecviliar  claims  and  an  individuality  all  her 
own.  Here  is  a  young  race  of  people,  who  are 
islanders,  unconquered,  sovereign,  proud-spir- 
ited, intensely  patriotic,  and  loving  their  own 
land  and  chief  ruler  even  to  religious  devotion. 
Responding  in  the  sixth  century  to  Chinese 
and  Buddhist  civilization,  but  in  the  sixteenth 
century  deliberately  rejecting  what  came  from 
Europe  by  way  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  the 
Japanese  in  the  nineteenth  century  became  the 
docile  but  discriminating  pupils  of  the  English- 
speaking  nations,  and  in  the  twentieth  century 
are  a  "world-power."  Though  borrowing  some 
features  of  national  life  and  thought  from  other 
nations  in  the  West,  these  people,  who  do  not 
imitate,  but  adopt  only  to  adapt,  are  self-con- 
fessed debtors  chiefly  to  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States.  But  so  fresh  is  the  field,  and 
as  yet  but  so  slightly  turned  into  furrows  by 
the  gospel  plough  and  seeded  for  the  kingdom, 
that,  at  this  writing,  but  forty-five  years  have 
passed  since  the  first  missionaries  with  the  Bible 
in  their  hands  came  to  the   Land  of  Peaceful 


viii  PREFACE 

Shores.  Yet  within  that  time  "what  hath  God 
wrought !  " 

The  author  was  the  first  foreigner  called  out 
to  Japan  under  the  "  charter  oath  "  of  the  Mi- 
kado in  1868  to  assist  in  "  re-laying  the  foiinda- 
tions  of  the  empire,"  and  is  the  only  white  man 
living  who  in  the  castle  city  of  a  baron  saw  the 
workings  of  the  feudal  system.  Beyond  mission- 
ary and  commercial  limits,  before  one  national 
school  or  the  army,  navy,  postal,  or  educational 
system  had  been  created,  he  looked  upon  the 
old  divided  life  of  the  people,  and  remembers 
many  things  now  vanished  and  forgotten.  He 
knows  well  by  sight  the  unspeakable  horrors  of 
disease,  pestilence,  famine,  nakedness,  immoral- 
ity, inhumanity,  and  oppression  which  belonged 
to  Japanese  society  in  a  state  of  feudalism,  ig- 
norance, and  superstition,  when  gospel  light 
had  not  yet  dawned.  This  was  before  Christian 
missionaries  had  given  both  the  government  and 
the  people,  not  only  the  ideas,  but  also  the  object- 
lessons  of  graded  school,  hospital,  dispensary, 
the  training  of  nurses,  the  asylums  for  the  blind, 
and  manifold  forms  of  blessed  charity.  Having 
seen  also  the  new  civilization,  he  feels  as  well 
as  knows  also  the  new  Japan's  dire  need  of 
the  gospel.  National  conceit  and  imported 
machinery  will  never  supply  the  necessity  of 
spiritual  regeneration. 

To  speak  in  the  first  person,  then,  having 
been  thus  on  the  soil  before  one  Christian 
church  had  been  organized,  or  gospel  sermon 
preached  by  a  native,  or  telegraph  pole  planted, 


PREFACE  IX 

or  railway  laid,  my  work  has,  I  trust,  what  so 
many  books  on  Japan  have  not,  —  perspective. 
I  can  safely  say  that,  though  in  government 
service,  I  have  known  by  experience  most  of 
what  the  missionaries,  early  and  late,  tell  about. 
In  place,  therefore,  of  many  quotations  in  the 
text,  I  have  given  my  own  testimony  as  eye- 
witness. 

A  word  as  to  the  plan  of  this  book :  I  have 
begun  at  the  foundations,  —  nature  and  man, 
—  and  then  proceeded  to  tell  the  story  of  the 
development  of  the  nation  in  consecutive  order 
of  time.  Apologizing,  because  of  brevity  and 
set  limits,  for  the  omission  of  many  names, 
events,  or  lines  of  works  of  which  I  should  like 
to  speak,  I  beg  earnestly  that  my  readers  will 
supplement  their  reading  of  "  Dux  Christus " 
with  their  own  denominational  literature  and 
the  books  recommended  in  the  text  and  lists. 
In  noting  both  the  lights  and  the  shadows  in 
the  picture  of  a  land  and  people  not  yet  Chris- 
tian, but  becoming  so,  and  in  thus  making  a 
study  of  comparative  religion,  we  are  seeing 
ourselves  and  our  fathers  as  in  a  mirror,  while 
beholding  the  truth  and  cross  of  Christ  rise  in 
splendor  as  he  draws  all  men  —  even  our  ag- 
nostic Japanese  brethren  —  unto  him.  Only 
one  result  can  come  by  comparing  the  ethnic 
cults  with  the  universal  and  absolute  religion, 
and  that  is,  to  reveal  more  clearly  the  truth 
of  Christianity  and  to  demonstrate  that  Jesus 
is  the  Christ.  Witli  Japan's  enlarging  respon- 
sibilities as  a  world  power,  is  revealed  the  pro- 


X  PREFACE 

found  and  increasing  need  of  her  people  of  the 
gospel  for  a  world  of  sin. 

In  the  Christian  meaning,  we  shout  with 
heart  and  voice,  "  Tei  Koku  Dai  Nippon !  Ban- 
zai !  "  May  the  Divinely  Governed  Country, 
Great  Japan,  endure  for  Ten  Thousand  Genera- 
tions. In  the  hearts  of  all  our  Japanese  friends, 
from  the  emperor  to  the  infant  just  born,  may 
the  cherry  flower  of  loyalty  to  Christ  the  Leader 
bloom  to  the  glory  of  Our  Father. 

W.  E.  G. 
Ithaca,  N.Y. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Statkment  of  the  Central  Committee    .        .  v 

Pkkface vii 

Pkonuxciatiox  of  Japanese  Words  .         .        .  xiii 

CHAPTER    I 

The  Framework  of  Recorded  Time          .        .  2 

The  Island  Empire 3 

Literary  Illustrations 37 

CHAPTER  n 

Chronological  Framework          ....  47 

The  Making  of  the  Nation        ....  49 

Literary  Illustrations 90 

CHAPTER  III 

Chronological  Framework          ....  101 

The  Kklhhons  of  Jai'an 103 

Literary  Illustrations 141 

CHAPTER  IV 

Chronological  Framework          ....  148 

AIoDERX  Christian  Missions         ....  149 

Literary  Illustrations 180 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  V 

PAGE 

Chronological  Framework         ....  197 

Woman's  Work  for  Woman        ....  199 

Literary  Illustrations 230 

CHAPTER  VI 

Forces  in  the  Conflict 240 

Litekaky  Illustrations 281 

APPENDIX 

List  of  Twenty-one  Periodicals       .        .        .  289 

Statistics  of  Protestant  Missions  in  Japan  291 

Index 293 


PRONUNCIATION   OF   JAPANESE 
WORDS 

Strictly  speaking,  there  is  no  accented  syl- 
lable in  a  Japanese  word,  but  there  are  long 
and  short  vowels.  There  are  as  many  syllables 
as  there  are  single  vowels.  The  consonants 
have  the  same  value  as  in  English,  but  g  is 
always  liard,  k  instead  of  c  is  used,  ch  and  s  are 
always  soft,  and  z  before  u  is  sounded  as  dz. 
When  two  consonants  occur  together,  as  in 
Nikko,  give  each  the  full  sound.  I  in  the 
middle,  as  in  Tokio  (Tokyo),  and  u  at  the  end 
of  a  word,  as  in  lyeyasu  (Ee-yay-yas'),  are 
scarcely  heard.  £/"  is  as  w  in  rule  or  oo  in  boot, 
never  as  in  unity.  E  before  a  consonant  is  as 
e  in  men,  but  final  e  is  as  e  in  prey.  Great  care 
must  be  taken  to  represent  long  or  short  vowels, 
the  quantity  taking  the  place  of  stress  or  accent, 
as  in  ju  or  jiu-jutsu  (Jew-juts'). 

a  as  in  father  ai  as  in  aisle 

e   "    "    men  e     "    "  prey 

i    "    "   pique  au  "  o  in  bone 

0    "    "    bone  iu  "  u  in  yule 

u  "    "    rule  ua  "  in  quarantine 

Examples  :  Mikado  (me-kah-do),  Mutsuhito 
(muts-h'to),  Ebisu  (a-bee-s'),  Hideyoslii  (Hee- 
day-yo-shee),  shogun  (show-goon),  Mei-ji  (may- 
ee-jee),  Guai-mu-sho  (gwai-moo-shoo),  Ai-dzu 
(eye-dzu),  Osaka  (o-o-saka),  li  (ee-ee),  Are 
(ah-ray),  Riu  Kiu  (ree-yu-kee-yu),  etc. 


DUX   CHRISTUS 


JAPAN'S   FRAMEWORK  OF  RECORDED  TIME 


660  B.C.-400  A.D.  The  prehistoric  period,  before  writing 
or  calendars,  covered  by  mythology,  tra- 
dition, and  an  official  chronology  manu- 
factured in  later  times.  Migrations  and 
race  struggles. 

Beginnings  of  history.     Rude  feudalism. 

Entrance  of  Buddhism. 

Beginning  of  the  system  of  year-periods. 

The  centralized  system  of  government  es- 
tablished. 

A  permanent  capital,  Nara,  chosen. 

First  book,  the  "  Kojiki,"  committed  to  writ- 
ing. 

Kobo  and  the  common  writing.  Shinto  ab- 
sorbed in  Buddhism. 

Military  campaigns  over.    The  clans  quarrel. 

Kamakura.     Yoritomo.     Feudalism  begins. 

The  Mongol  armada  repulsed. 

Schism  in  the  imperial  line. 

First  arrival  of  Europeans. 

Era  of  the  Three  Great  Men  and  of  Roman 
Christianity. 

lyeyasu  at  Yedo.     Castle  built. 

The  Hollanders  at  Deshima.   Profound  peace. 

The  ToKUGAWA  Shoguns  in  Yedo.  Era  of 
the  literary  revival  of  Pure  Shinto.  Con- 
fucianism the  code  and  philosophy  of  the 
educated. 

Rai  Sanyo's  "History  of  Japan"  published. 

Arrival  of  Commodore  Perry's  peaceful  ar- 
mada. 

First  treaties  made. 

Harris  treaty  opening  ports  to  trade  and 
residence. 

Era  of  Meiji  begins.  Civil  war.  Charter 
Oath. 

Tokio  made  the  capital.  Vast  reforms  be- 
gun. 

The  feudal  system  abolished. 

The   solar  or  Gregorian   calendar  adopted. 
First  Protestant  Christian  church  formed. 
1889  .  .  ,     The  Constitution  proclaimed. 
1894  .  .  .     The  Chino-Japanese  War. 
1900  ,  .  .     Political  independence. 
1904  .  .  .    War  with  Russia. 


400  A.D. 

552  ..  . 
645  ..  . 
649  ..  . 

710  ..  . 
712  ..  . 

809  ..  . 

1156  .  .  . 
1192  .  .  . 
1281  .  .  . 
1348-1392 
1542  .  .  . 
1542-1640 

1606  .  .  . 
1639  .  .  . 
1604-1868 


1827 
1853 

1854 
1859 

1868 

1869 

1871 
1872 


DUX   CHRISTUS 

CHAPTER   I 

THE   ISLAND    EMPIRE 

Unique  Japan.  —  Among  all  the  empires  of 
Asia,  Dai  Nippon  (Great  Sunrise)  is  unique  in 
being  insular,  unconquered,  and  governed  from 
immemorial  antiquity  by  one  unbroken  dynasty 
of  rulers.  Whereas  the  continental  peoples  of 
Asia  and  Europe  have  formed  nationalities 
under  pressure  from  without,  by  menace  or 
invasion,  the  Japanese,  uninvaded  and  "  com- 
passed by  the  inviolate  sea,"  have  had  their 
activities  of  evolution  chiefly  from  within. 
Without  war,  tliey  have  received  seed  or  leaven 
from  both  the  Orient  and  the  Occident.  The 
elements  of  progress  from  beyond  sea  have 
come  without  the  sword.  The  invasions,  Con- 
fucian, Buddhist,  Chinese,  Korean,  Hindoo, 
European,  American,  or  Christian,  have  been 
those  of  peace,  and  the  triumphs  of  the  alien 
have  been,  for  the  most  part,  "brain  victories." 
Japan  is  tlie  Land  of  Peaceful  Shores,  peerless 
among  Asiatic  nations.  It  has  received  its 
territory,  for  the  most  part,  without  aggression 
or  conquest,  and  is  a  nation  without  immi- 
3 


4  DUX  CHRISTU8 

grants.  In  the  whole  empire  are  about  fifteen 
thousand  foreigners,  half  of  them  Chinese. 
The  British  folk  number  twenty-one,  the  Amer- 
icans sixteen,  and  Germans  six  hundred. 

In  relation  to  Asia,  Japan  is  as  England  to 
Europe,  and  her  people  to  Asiatics  are  as  the 
islanders  of  Great  Britain  to  the  continental 
Europeans.  Having  all  the  characteristics  of 
insular  people,  they  realize  also  their  position 
relative  to  the  greatest  of  continents.  In  the 
twentieth  century,  with  their  fifty  millions  of 
people,  divided  into  the  three  classes,  nobles, 
gentry,  and  commons,  they  feel  their  unique 
importance  as  the  middle  term  between  the 
civilizations  of  the  East  and  of  the  West. 

Old  and  New  Japan.  —  For  the  purposes  of 
our  study  we  may  consider  the  Old  and  the 
New  Nippon,  which  historically  and  in  point 
of  culture  are  quite  different.  Our  fathers 
knew  the  old  hermit  nation  of  the  Dutchmen 
and  the  geographies.  We  know  the  new  em- 
pire which  is  in  brotherhood  with  the  world. 

The  empire  of  the  Mikado  stretches  from 
latitude  21°  48'  to  50°  56'  and  from  longitude 
E.  from  Greenwich  156°  32'  to  119°  20'.  Dai 
Nippon  is  thus  set  in  a  square  of  ocean  super- 
ficies measuring  roughly  about  five  million, 
square  miles.  The  once  "  hermit  nation  "  in 
the  Far  East  has  now,  besides  China  and 
Korea,  for  her  neighbors,  Russia,  Germany, 
France,  Great  Britain,  and  the  United  States. 

The  old  or  distinctive  Japan  consists  of  those 
three  large  islands,  Hondo  (mainland),  Kiushiu 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  5 

(nine  provinces),  Shikoku  (four  countries),  and 
the  smaller  islands  of  Sado,  Oki,  Awaji,  Iki, 
and  Tsushima,  all  of  which  are  historically  of 
great  importance.  On  these,  besides  Yamato, 
tlie  ancient  holy  land  of  the  Mikado's  dynasty, 
is  the  oldest  seat  of  empire,  the  home  of  legend, 
history,  art,  literature,  and  achievement.  Here 
is  classic  soil,  which  is  rich  in  poetic  associ- 
ations and  national  traditions,  old  with  the 
"moss  of  uncomputed  ages."  One  must  soon 
learn  what  is  the  Yamato  damashii,  or  the  spirit 
of  unconquerable  Japan,  in  order  to  know  any- 
thing about  the  Japanese. 

Yezo  (savage  or  uncivilized)  is  comparatively 
new  and  modern  to  the  Japanese  themselves, 
but  we  Western  people  think  of  this  island 
as  belonging  to  the  Old  Japan  which  our 
fathers  knew,  because  it  figured  largely  upon 
the  maps  ;  but,  though  always  inhabited  by  the 
Aino  savages,  it  was  not  colonized  by  the  Jap- 
anese until  after  1600  a.d. 

Japan  an  Archipelago.  —  Old  Japan  was 
crescent-shaped.  The  Island  Empire  is  really 
a  great  archipelago  of  about  four  thousand 
islands,  of  which  number  over  three  thousand 
may  have  names.  There  are  four  hundred 
and  eiglity-seven  isles  which  have  a  coast-line 
of  two  and  a  half  miles,  and,  except  locally, 
only  these  are  officially  named  and  noted,  un- 
less they,  being  inhabited,  or  having  lighthouses 
or  beacons,  serve  as  guides  to  navigation.  The 
Japanese  have  the  marked  traits  and  tempera- 
ment of  insular  people,  and  the  names  of  their 


6  DUX  CHRISTUS 

islands  form  an  interesting  study,  rich  in  mate- 
rial of  folk-lore.  For  purposes  of  government, 
these  smaller  islands  are  associated  in  groups, 
or  are  under  the  direction  of  one  of  the  neigh- 
boring prefectures,  into  which  Japan,  like 
France,  is  divided,  each  having  its  governor 
and  council.  In  the  north,  Chishima  (thousand 
islands),  or  Kuriles  (smokers),  numbers  thirty- 
two,  Riukiu  (Loo  Choo,  sleeping  dragon)  fifty- 
five,  and  the  Bonin  (no  man's)  twenty  islands, 
or  in  Old  Japan  four  hundred  and  eleven  in  all. 
In  New  Japan,  Formosa  (beautiful)  has  twenty- 
one  and  the  Pescadores  (fishers)  forty-seven 
islands.     Both  were  named  by  the  Portuguese. 

The  newer  regions  of  the  Hok-kai-do  (North- 
ern sea  gate)  or  Yezo  and  the  Kuriles  in  the 
north,  and  Formosa  and  the  Pescadores  in  the 
south,  are  parts  of  the  New  Japan,  which  came 
to  its  birth  in  1868.  Being  outside  of  the  gen- 
eral stream  of  the  national  history,  these  are 
reckoned  as  crown  lands.  For  the  most  part 
the  usual  political  privileges  and  methods  of 
administration  do  not  apply  to  them,  while  to 
the  majority  of  the  Japanese  they  are  still  dis- 
tant and  strange. 

The  Old  Divisions.  — Anciently  the  empire  was 
divided  into  do  (roads  or  circuits)  such  as 
the  Tokaido  (Eastern  sea  road),  composing 
fifteen  provinces,  facing  the  Pacific  from  Yedo 
to  near  Kioto  ;  the  Hokkaido  (Northern  sea 
road),  comprising  Yezo  and  the  Kuriles,  etc., 
like  the  terms  "  Eastern,"  "  Middle,"  and 
"  Southern  "  states  in  America. 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  7 

Some  of  the  old  circuits  are  now  rarely  spoken 
of,  while  others  are  still  remembered  in  common 
speech.  As  convenient  and  sentimental  terms, 
they  serve  Japanese  clubs,  societies,  railways, 
banks,  and  various  corporations  with  pleasing 
names,  just  as  "  Albion  "  and  "  Caledonia  "  do 
English-speaking  peoples. 

In  the  Japan  of  feudal  days,  a  native  was  of 
this  or  that  "  country  "  or  clan,  but  now  feudal- 
ism is  past  and  gone,  and  all  are  proud  to  be 
Japanese.  The  empire  has  forty-eight  divisions, 
with  forty-three  prefectures,  three  imperial 
cities,  Tokio,  Kioto,  and  Osaka,  and  two  terri- 
tories or  colonies,  Yezo  and  Formosa.  There  are 
fifty  or  more  incorporated  cities,  and  seven  hun- 
dred and  five  urban  and  rural  subdistricts,  the 
latter  being  often  divided  into  towns  and  vil- 
lages ;  or,  in  the  whole  empire,  nearly  fifteen 
thousand  cities,  towns,  and  villages.  Single 
habitations  are  rare,  except  in  the  mountains 
or  in  very  poor  regions,  the  country  people  being 
grouped  in  villages  for  mutual  comfort  and  pro- 
tection and  especially  to  save  shading  the  soil 
by  houses,  which  would  limit  productiveness. 
Heathenism  still  has  its  stronghold  in  the  coun- 
try districts,  and  most  of  the  Christian  church- 
members  are  people  who  live  away  from  their 
native  places  and  have  cut  loose  from  local 
traditions.  Christianity  spreads  more  rapidly 
in  the  cities.  In  the  next  century  the  word 
inaha  (countryman,  rustic)  will  mean  pagan. 

A  Land  of  Many  Names.  —  There  are  many 
names  for  Japan  in  poetry  and  tradition,  though 


8  DUX  CHRISTU8 

in  conversation  and  the  newspapers,  Nippon  is 
the  most  common  term.  Meaning  literally  sun- 
root,  this  word  was  first  applied  by  people  com- 
ing from  the  continent  to  the  island,  and  the 
word  itself  is  but  a  corruption  of  the  Chinese 
Jih-pen^  whence  our  word  Japan.  In  poetry 
the  Japanese  call  their  beautiful  country 
Yamato,  from  the  ancient  name  of  one  of  its 
oldest  regions  in  this  mountain-girt  land. 
Many  other  names  are  found  in  the  native  lit- 
erature and  employed  in  poetry  or  the  higher 
style  of  address.  Foreign  appellations,  besides 
being  numerous  and  varied,  are  more  or  less 
complimentary.  Was  it  not  Victor  Hugo  who 
called  Japan  "  The  Child  of  the  World's  Old 
Age,"  and  did  not  Joseph  Cook  speak  of  the 
Japanese  as  the  "  diamond  edition  of  humanity," 
and  their  country  as  the  "  Rudder  of  Asia  "  ? 

The  Japanese  might  also  give  to  their  whole 
strung-out  empire  the  name  which  they  apply 
to  the  Riu  Kiu  Islands,  which  are  like  shining 
beads  on  a  rosary,  that  is,  the  Long  Rope,  or 
Extended  Thread.  When  looked  at  on  a  large 
map,  Japan  resembles  a  huge  silkworm,  with 
Yezo  for  its  tail,  Hondo  for  its  body,  and  Kiu- 
shiu  for  its  head.  Its  open  jaws  seem  to  be 
spinning  a  glistening  thread  to  form  the  cocoon 
of  Formosa,  near  the  Philippines,  thus  making 
an  empire  roughly  two  thousand  two  hundred 
miles  long,  and  only  two  or  three  hundred  miles 
wide  at  its  broadest  portion. 

Climate.  —  Extending  so  far  north  and  south, 
the  Mikado's  empire  has  not  only  a  very  varied 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  9 

climate,  but  also  a  wonderful  diversity  of  vege- 
tation. Heat  and  cold,  dryness  and  moisture, 
are  not  only  according  as  a  region  is  north  or 
south,  towards  the  tropics  or  the  poles,  but 
also  as  the  place  described  is  situated  with 
reference  to  the  Kuro-Shiwo  (black  tide  or  cur- 
rent), the  Gulf  Stream  of  the  Pacific,  which 
brings  northward  the  hot  water  of  equatorial 
seas  up  past  the  Kuriles.  According  to  which 
side  of  the  mountain  ranges  the  clouds  gather, 
snow  or  rain  will  fall  during  the  same  storm. 

Roughly  speaking,  the  eastern  Pacific  side, 
towards  America,  is  the  warmest  and  most 
fertile,  while  the  western  or  Asian  side  is 
colder,  though  in  Formosa  these  conditions  are 
reversed.  Here  in  the  far  south,  where  cotton, 
sugar,  indigo  and  camphor  forests  abound,  we 
have  an  island  bisected  by  the  Tropic  of  Can- 
cer. Then  also,  in  "  the  land  where  it  is  always 
afternoon,"  the  sleepy  Riu  Kiu  Islands — some 
day  perhaps  to  be  an  ocean  winter  sanitarium 
—  we  have  subtropical  weather  conditions.  In 
the  extreme  north,  on  the  far  Kuriles,  bleak, 
barren,  foggy,  and  cold,  we  find  little  sign  of 
life  of  man,  beast,  or  vegetable.  Hokkaido  is 
much  like  the  region  of  New  York  and  southern 
Canada,  while  in  Japan  proper,  with  much 
variety,  the  climate  is  in  general  that  of  the 
United  States,  whether  on  the  Atlantic  or  in 
the  Mississippi  Valley.  Speaking  generally, 
the  average  person  from  Western  countries  can, 
in  this  part  of  the  Orient,  do  a  reasonable 
amount  of  work  every  day  of  the  year.     The 


10  DUX  CHRISTUS 

winds  blow  regularly  from  the  north  in  winter 
and  from  the  south  in  summer.  One  of  the 
chief  reasons  why  so  many  foreigners,  especially 
Americans,  break  down  nervously,  is  found  in 
the  occurrence  of  unusual  heat  and  excessive 
moisture  at  that  time  of  the  year  when,  by  cus- 
tom and  habit,  American  teachers  at  home  do 
their  hardest  brain  work  in  examinations  and 
become  overwearied  in  the  labors  incident  to 
school  closing.  Excellent  for  children,  less  so 
for  adults,  better  for  men,  worse  for  women, 
bad  for  persons  of  weak  nerves  or  with  con- 
sumptive tendency,  but  on  the  whole  good, 
is  what  one  of  ordinarily  robust  health  de- 
clares the  climate  of  Japan  to  be. 

Japan  is  not  subject  to  the  same  extremes 
which  characterize  American  weather.  The 
steadiness  of  temperature  is  more  like  that  of 
the  British  Isles,  except  that  the  greater  humid- 
ity in  the  air  makes  it  harder  for  Western  people 
to  bear.  Hence  also  its  perpetual  greenery. 
The  months  of  June  and  September  are  very 
rainy.  From  April  to  July  the  "river  of 
Heaven"  overflows  about  every  other  day. 
There  is  comparatively  little  snow  except  on 
the  west  coast,  between  the  sea  of  Japan  and 
the  mountains.  Here  the  snow  lies  for  months 
a  yard  deep  over  the  landscape,  and  in  the  val- 
leys ten  and  twenty  feet  deep.  In  crossing  the 
latter,  one  often  needs  snow-shoes.  Fogs  are 
not  very  frequent,  except  along  the  northern 
coasts,  but  in  late  summer  and  early  autumn  one 
may  expect  a  visitation  of  the  dreaded  and  de- 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  11 

structive  typhoon  (tai-fun,  great  wind).  The 
autumn  and  early  winter  are  the  most  delightful 
seasons  of  the  year.  Sometimes  the  month  of 
December  passes  without  a  cloud  in  the  sky. 
Late  autumn  is  the  best  time  for  tourists  and 
travel. 

It  will  be  seen  then,  from  the  excessive  vari- 
ety in  the  physical  environment,  high  mountain 
plateaus,  and  many  low-lying  valleys  and  cold 
lands,  with  the  winds  from  Siberia  and  currents 
from  the  Arctic  on  the  west,  and  with  the  warm 
moisture-laden  air  over  the  regions  facing  the 
Pacific  gulf-stream,  that  Japan  has  a  great  vari- 
ety of  weather.  People  who  reach  Japan  from 
the  tropics  feel  chilly;  those  coming  by  way  of 
Siberia  are  apt  to  complain  of  the  heat.  One 
reason  why  people  from  beyond  sea  feel  less 
vigorous  when  living  in  Japan  is  because  the 
ozone  of  the  atmosphere  is  less  in  quantity,  to 
the  extent  of  one-third,  than  in  the  air  of  Eu- 
rope and  America.  Murray's  "Handbook  of 
Japan"  gives  the  British  view  of  the  situation. 
In  our  days,  with  their  superbly  equipped  mete- 
orological stations,  the  government  observers 
issue  bulletins  of  weather  probabilities  thrice 
daily,  foretelling  storms  and  even  earthquakes. 

Rivers.  —  Japan  has  no  rivers  of  any  notable 
length,  depth,  or  dignity.  Most  of  the  kaiva  are 
noisy  sprawling  torrents  occupying  more  space 
than  they  are  worth.  Not  a  few  of  those  fa- 
mous in  the  national  annals  win  glory  from  their 
being  far.  Like  Plymouth  Rock,  they  are  co- 
lossal in  history,  rhetoric,  and  poetry,  but  in 


12  BUX  CHRISTUS 

proportions  can  be  easily  measured  with  an 
umbrella.  Of  these,  some  live  only  in  name, 
having  utterly  dried  up.  Others  are  but  stream- 
lets hardly  able  to  fill  a  laundry-man's  tub.  The 
whole  archipelago  consists  mainly  of  the  emerged 
crests  of  a  line  of  mountains.  These  are  sur- 
rounded on  the  west  by  the  comparatively  shal- 
low sea  of  Japan,  and  on  the  east  by  a  very  deep 
ocean,  which  along  the  northern  part  of  the 
empire  contains  the  profoundest  aqueous  depths 
in  the  world.  The  central  spine  of  the  islands 
consists  of  peaks  and  plateaus  ;  and  no  rivers 
run  across  Hondo,  but  all  tumble  down  from 
the  highlands  to  the  sea,  in  short,  and  for  the 
most  part,  tumultuous  channels.  Boiling  floods 
in  the  spring  when  the  snow  melts,  or  in  June 
and  September  when  the  rainy  season  is  on,  tliey 
are,  during  the  quiet  winter  or  the  hot  summer, 
inconspicuous  streams  finding  their  tortuous  way 
over  wide  spaces  of  pebbles,  sand,  gravel,  and 
mountain  debris.  In  many  parts  of  the  country 
an  uncomputed  amount  of  labor  has  been  spent 
during  ages  to  protect  the  fields  from  inunda- 
tion, and  much  has  to  be  spent  every  year. 
Dikes  have  been  built  both  against  the  river 
floods  and,  in  low-lying  regions,  against  the  sea. 
In  fact  Japan,  besides  resembling  the  Nether- 
lands in  many  other  ways,  has  to  spend  every 
year  about  as  much  money  on  her  defensive 
walls  against  river  and  sea  as  do  North  and 
South  Holland  and  Zealand.  In  some  neigh- 
borhoods one  can  walk  miles  on  the  top  of  the 
dikes,  looking  down  on  the  surrounding  country 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  13 

far  below,  smiling,  it  may  be,  in  the  summer  sun- 
shine, but  in  the  time  of  storm  and  flood  men- 
aced with  danger  from  the  terrible  waters. 
Millions  upon  millions  of  her  people  have  been 
destroyed  by  floods  and  tidal  waves,  so  that 
Japan  sadly  needs  the  science  of  engineering 
and  the  art  of  an  Eads  or  a  Caland  to  save  both 
life  and  soil.  Nor  is  it  any  wonder  that  the 
dragon-symbol  of  the  powers  of  water,  both 
life-giving  and  destroying,  occupies  the  foremost 
place  in  her  art. 

The  Soil  and  its  Fertility.  —  To  state  the  area 
of  Japan  is  by  no  means  to  tell  of  so  much  ara- 
ble soil  or  fertile  territory.  Indeed,  the  dispro- 
portion between  the  valuable  and  worthless  land 
constitutes  the  real  problem  for  Japanese  states- 
men. The  people  must  go  abroad  in  order 
to  live.  A  contrast  easily  made  is  startling. 
Whereas  in  Europe  the  average  of  cultivated 
land  to  the  total  area  of  the  country  is  37.4 
per  cent,  it  is  in  Japan  only  13  per  cent.  That 
is,  87  per  cent  of  Japan  goes  almost  to  waste. 
The  empire  now  contains  fifty  million  souls  ; 
but,  while  population  is  increasing  at  the  rate 
of  about  a  half  million  a  year,  very  little  new 
land  is  reclaimed,  and  most  of  the  old  soils  have 
reached  their  limit  of  production.  Unlike 
China,  Japan  is  not  a  self-centred  country. 
Food  must  be  imported.  Like  the  ever  in- 
creasing British  people,  the  Japanese,  being 
islanders,  must  emigrate  and  be  enterprising 
in  distant  lands.  In  1901  fifteen  million  acres 
were  under  cultivation.     The  average  yield  of 


14  DUX  CHEISTUS 

rice  is  about  two  hundred  million  bushels.  In 
olden  times,  when  the  crop  failed  there  was 
famine.  Even  the  soil  has  but  slight  natural 
fertility.  Newly  broken  ground  yields  only 
scant  harvests,  and  without  the  most  careful 
attention  and  manuring  the  earth  brings  forth 
but  poorly.  The  face  of  the  country  is  almost 
wholly  mountainous,  and  only  the  river  valleys 
and  plains  are  cultivated,  though  often  the 
gullies  are  terraced  and  the  slopes  made  useful. 
Heretofore  the  Japanese  have  not  been  much 
acquainted  with  artificial  fertilizers,  using  al- 
most wholly  poudrette  and  animal  droppings. 
Hence,  as  a  rule,  and  for  obvious  reasons,  the 
land  produces  the  richest  crops  near  large  towns 
and  cities.  Nevertheless,  more  energy  and 
resolution,  resulting  from  a  change  of  mind  and 
habits,  would  make  the  hill  land  more  valuable. 
Agriculture,  then,  is  confined  to  a  little  more 
than  one-twelfth  of  the  country's  area. 

The  Landscape.  —  As  Japan  is  a  land  poor  in 
horses  and  cattle,  there  is  in  general  very  little 
pasture  and  no  such  thing  as  enclosed  estates  of 
large  size.  "  There  are  no  farms,  only  gar- 
dens." One  sees  no  fences  and  comparatively 
few  ditches,  walls  and  hedges  being  used  as 
boundary  lines.  Rarely  does  a  house  stand  by 
itself.  The  villages  concentrate  the  population 
and  the  houses  are  built  close  together,  usually 
in  parallel  rows  along  a  single  thoroughfare, 
with  few  or  no  side  streets.  Until  very  re- 
cently vehicles  drawn  by  horses  were  unknown, 
for  the  farmer  never  thought  of  having  such  a 


THE  ISLAND   EMPIRE  15 

thing.  Burdens  were  carried  on  the  backs  of 
men,  women,  and  horses.  In  enumerating  bur- 
den bearers  or  workmen,  tlie  term  for  animals 
was  used,  just  as  we  say  of  labor  so  many 
"hands."  Instead  of  trains  of  baggage  wagons, 
Japanese  military  authorities  use  armies  of 
laborers  almost  equal  in  number  to  those  of  the 
combatants,  but  there  is  no  blood  caste  and 
there  are  no  coolies. 

The  average  agricultural  landscape  consists 
of  a  level  of  unfenced  fields,  in  which  are  small 
S[)aces,  fractions  of  an  acre,  separated  by  little 
banks  or  partitions  of  earth  enclosing  water  a 
few  inches  deep,  in  which  rice  is  planted  and 
grown.  The  pathways  are  narrow  .dams  be- 
tween the  fields  and  roads,  so-called  dams  or 
dikes,  forming  the  public  roads,  only  a  little 
wider,  set  between  the  paddy  (or  wet)  fields  on 
either  side.  In  winter,  when  seen  in  certain 
liglits,  the  low,  flat  country  looks  like  a  great 
looking-glass,  cracked  into  bits  and  spotted  all 
over  with  the  tufts  of  rice  stubble.  In  the 
springtime  the  tender  green  of  the  growing  rice 
is  very  beautiful.  At  the  beginning  of  sowing, 
one  sees  a  striking  illustration  of  the  scripture 
passage,  "  cast  thy  bread  upon  the  waters ; 
for  thou  shalt  find  it  after  many  days."  The 
rice  farmer,  as  in  May  he  stands  casting  out 
his  precious  rice  grains  into  his  seed  bed,  seems 
to  be  throwing  them  away  on  water,  but  this  is 
but  faith  put  into  practice,  for  after  a  few  days 
it  comes  back  to  him,  first  as  the  pretty  green 
tufts    a    few    inches    above    the    water's    level. 


16  DUX  CHRIST  us 

These  in  June  he  transplants  in  rows,  weeding 
and  laboriously  hoeing  and  guarding  until 
October,  when  the  golden  harvest  is  ready. 
Concerning  the  rice  plant  and  grain  the  Japan- 
ese have  a  rich  poetry  and  mythology.  "  Give 
us  this  day  our  daily  bread  "  means  to  most 
of  the  city  and  well-to-do  people,  rice,  but  to 
most  country  folk  it  is  a  luxury  eaten  only  on 
holidays  and  special  occasions. 

Mountains  and  Volcanoes.  —  The  most  strik- 
ing feature  of  the  Japanese  archipelago  is  its 
mountainous  surface,  which  from  Yezo  to  For- 
mosa rises  from  the  little  hills  up  to  the  highest 
peak  in  the  empire,  Nitakayama  (Mount  Morri- 
son), which  is  13,880  feet  high.  The  four 
larger  islands  are  covered  with  hills,  and  on 
Hondo  one  sees  the  great  table-land  of  Shinano 
rising  2500  feet  above  sea-level.  Thence 
northerly,  to  the  end  of  Hondo,  we  behold 
roughly  outlined  two  nearly  parallel  lines  of 
mountains  of  irregular  height.  Kiushiu  has  a 
background  of  lofty  ranges,  and  most  of  the 
promontories  jutting  into  the  sea  consist  of 
bold  rocks.  The  most  beautiful  mountain, 
visible  from  thirteen  provinces,  a  landmark  to 
the  mariner  at  sea,  the  goal  annually  of  myriads 
of  pilgrims,  and  the  centre  of  poetry,  legend, 
and  art,  from  the  dawn  of  history  to  the  days  of 
telephones,  is  Fuji,  or  Fuji  San,  which  is  gener^ 
ally  called  Fujiyama  by  Europeans.  The  story 
of  its  many  names  and  of  its  origin  in  a  night, 
the  earth  rising  in  one  place  to  make  a  moun- 
tain and  sinking  in  another  to  make  a  lake,  is 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  IT 

told  in  "Japanese  Fairy  World,"  entitled  "The 
Lake  of  the  Lute  and  the  Matchless  Mountain." 
Millions  of  religious  pilgrims  climb  the  higher 
crests,  and  some  sects  of  devotees  are  named 
after  Fuji  and  other  peaks. 

Japan  seems  to  be  in  the  very  centre  of  the 
volcanic  activities  of  the  world.  Probably  no- 
other  region  of  similar  area  has  so  many  open 
vents  of  the  earth's  fiery  interior.  Twenty 
active  volcanoes  are  counted.  Indeed,  the  vol- 
cano and  the  earthquake  have  been  the  chief 
makers  of  Japan.  But  for  these,  which  lift 
and  depress  the  crust  of  the  earth  and  cover  it 
with  material  for  soil,  much  of  Japan  would 
never  have  existed.  The  lava  streams,  the  red- 
hot  sand,  and  showers  of  ashes,  which  sometimes- 
within  a  few  days  will  cover  the  ground  six 
yards  deep,  have  formed  most  of  the  soil  of 
Japan.  Certain  signs  foretell  the  outbreak  of 
activities  below  the  earth's  surface.  Sometimes 
the  warning  comes  in  the  untimely  blooming  of 
the  cherry  trees,  in  January  instead  of  in  April. 
Or,  the  water  in  the  wells  sinks  before  the  earth- 
quake shock.  Even  such  innocent-looking^ 
mountains  as  Fuji,  Onzen,  and  Ontake  have 
without  warning  burst  out  into  flame  and  steam, 
sending  out  floods  of  lava,  throwing  the  sea  into- 
commotion,  and  consuming  tens  of  thousands 
of  lives.  Occasionally  the  rocky  cap  of  a 
mountain  is  blown  off  with  sudden  explosion. 
In  parts  of  the  ocean  round  Japan  the  water 
boils  and  fumes  from  subterranean  volcanoes. 
These  wive  rise  also  to  the  abundance  of   hot 


18  DUX  CHRIST  us 

springs  in  the  country,  to  the  vast  beds  of  sul- 
phur, and  to  those  delightful  watering  places 
which  furnish  healing  baths  for  the  invalids 
and  places  of  recreation  for  pilgrims,  tourists, 
merchants,  and  missionaries. 

All  these  phenomena,  continued  during  ages, 
have  been  powerful  factors  in  forming  the  tem- 
perament, character,  and  general  nature  of  the 
Japanese,  and  in  determining  their  history. 
Their  land  and  its  story  are  to  millions  of 
them  their  religion.  There  is  no  homesick- 
ness greater  than  theirs  when  away  from  their 
beautiful  Japan. 

Earthquakes.  —  More  immediate,  personal,  and 
terrifying  than  volcanoes  are  the  earthquakes, 
which,  acting  right  under  your  feet  almost 
daily,  affect  powerfully  both  mind  and  body. 
They  are  nearly  continuous  in  one  part  of  the 
empire  or  another.  Indeed,  Japan  is  a  coun- 
try in  which  the  chances  of  going  to  sleep  at 
night  and  waking  up  to  find  the  chimney  in  bed 
with  you  are  fair.  Shocks  vary  from  slight 
vibrations,  which  the  seismograph  records  al- 
most with  the  frequency  of  the  beat  of  the 
human  pulse,  to  those  violent  earth-tremors 
over  great  areas,  which  lift  up  and  throw  down 
animals,  human  beings,  houses,  rocks,  and  hills, 
which  toss  over  steel  bridges  into  ditch  or  river, 
twist  railways  until  they  look  like  writhing 
snakes,  or  open  the  earth  in  great  cracks. 
Such  are  common  phenomena.  The  wise 
dweller  in  Japan  will  catch  hold  of  the  lamp 
as  soon  as  he  feels  the  earth  rockingr  and  the 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  19 

house  swaying.  The  house  tumbling  down  and 
falling  on  lamp  or  brazier  adds  fire  to  the  hor- 
rors of  the  situation.  Yet  the  really  destruc- 
tive earthquakes  come  only  about  once  in  twenty 
years,  and  it  is  calculated  that  there  are  more 
people  killed  every  year  by  lightning  in  the 
United  States  than  there  are  by  earthquakes  in 
Japan,  where  thunder-storms  are  rare.  Accord- 
ing to  mythology,  earthquakes  are  caused  by 
the  writhing  of  a  vast  subterranean  catfish, 
whose  head  is  in  the  northern  part  of  Hondo 
and  whose  tail  is  in  Kioto,  or  southward.  For 
this,  as  in  nearly  every  other  phenomenon  in 
Japan,  there  is  a  popular  as  well  as  a  scientific 
explanation,  for  all  the  creatures  in  the  men- 
agerie of  mythical  zoology  are,  according  to 
native  fancy,  kept  very  busy  at  their  pranks. 
The  general  ignorance  of  natural  law  and  lack 
of  knowledge  of  a  Creator-Father  account  for 
much  of  the  popular  superstition  among  the 
lowly  and  the  apparently  mercurial  disposition 
of  the  better  class.  Above  all  things  the  Jap- 
anese, as  a  people,  need  a  loving  knowledge 
of  the  "  One  Lawgiver,  who  is  able  to  save  and 
to  destroy." 

Japan's  Indented  Coast-line.  —  A  glance  at 
the  situation  on  the  map  of  the  world  and  a 
study  of  the  configuration  of  the  islands,  with 
their  coast-line  deeply  indented  in  many  places 
with  bays  and  promontories  and  with  only  a 
fraction  of  its  area  available  for  agriculture, 
show  the  part  which  Japan  is  likely  to  play  in 
the  world's  future  by  industry  and  commerce, 


20  DUX  CHRISTUS 

sea  power,  and  a  career  on  the  ocean.  One 
might  imagine,  a  priori,  that  the  Japanese 
would  have  been  the  Phoenicians  of  the  Far 
East  ;  and  indeed,  in  large  measure,  before 
and  especially  during  the  sixteenth  century 
they  were,  and  in  the  twentieth  century  are. 
Legendre  in  his  "  Progressive  Japan  "  says  : 
"  This  chain  of  islands  seems  to  have  been 
located  especially  round  the  eastern  boundary 
of  the  Old  World,  to  form  the  advanced  post 
of  a  transformed  superior  civilization,  returning 
with  man  by  a  course  indicated  by  that  of  the 
sun,  to  seize  upon  the  place  of  its  birth  and 
give  a  new  impulse  to  its  suffering  races  and 
otherwise  prepare  them  for  their  coming  evolu- 
tion in  the  vortex  of  ages." 

The  coast-line  of  the  empire  is  over  eighteen 
thousand  miles  long,  and  is  for  the  most  part 
the  theatre  of  varied  industries.  On  or  near 
the  salt  water,  deep-sea  fishing,  whale  hunt- 
ing, the  drying  of  marine  products,  the  canning 
of  salmon  and  sardines,  and  a  thousand  other 
methods  of  livelihood  occupy  tens  of  thousands. 
Salt  is  made  by  dipping  up  the  sea  water  and 
sprinkling  it  over  beds  of  sand,  evaporating  it 
in  the  sun,  and  then  leaching  out  the  brine, 
which  is  boiled  to  crystals. 

The  Fisheries.  —  Catching  fish  in  fresh  water 
by  hook,  net,  cormorant,  torch-light,  and  spear, 
furnishes  livelihood  to  thousands  more.  Fish- 
ing is  probably  a  more  ancient  art  in  Japan  than 
agriculture.  Its  scenes  and  situations  lend 
themselves  readily  to  the  artist  and  poet,  both 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  21 

of  whom  delight  to  portray  the  fishing  girls  and 
men,  the  female  divers  after  shell-fish,  and  the 
fishermen  drying  their  nets  or  returning  home 
with  their  spoils.  In  making  presents  of  food, 
which  is  such  a  striking  characteristic  of  Jap- 
anese social  life,  there  must  always  be  a  piece  of 
decorated  and  folded  paper  tied  artistically  with 
red  and  white  cord,  a  polite  necessity  of  which  is 
the  insert  of  a  tiny  slip  of  fish  skin  which  tells  its 
own  story  as  a  legacy  from  primitive  civilization. 
Japanese  art,  poetry,  romance,  and  folk-lore  are 
full  of  the  sea,  its  wonders  and  its  possibilities 
for  man.  Even  the  ancient  Shinto  liturgies  cele- 
brate "  the  blue  plain  of  the  sea,"  the  ship  and 
her  equipment,  the  fishers  and  their  spoils.  Of 
the  two  gods  of  daily  food,  seen  in  nearly  every 
Japanese  house,  one  sits  on  two  bags  of  rice,  the 
native  staff  of  life,  and  the  other  holds  a  tai^  or 
bream  fish,  under  his  left  arm,  while  his  right 
grasps  a  fishing  pole.  Neither  of  these  idols  is 
Buddhist  or  continental,  but  of  pure  Japanese 
origin. 

Varied  Industries.  —  The  modern  contact  nf 
the  Japanese  with  Occidental  nations  came  in 
the  age  of  steam,  electricity,  the  printing-press, 
and  of  the  manifold  applications  of  coal  and 
iron.  They  have  taken  kindly  to  the  material 
forces  of  the  Western  nations,  and  have,  in  a 
generation  or  two,  changed  their  form  of  society 
from  feudalism  to  constitutional  imperialism, 
and  from  one  almost  wholly  agricultural  to  that 
which  is  industrial  and  commercial.  This  is  the 
golden    age    of    the    craftsman,    merchant,   and 


22  DUX  CHRISTUS 

financial  promoter.  Besides  the  great  enter- 
prises of  ship  building  and  railway  construction, 
there  are  hundreds  of  minor  industries,  such  as 
sugar  raising,  paper  making,  dyeing,  glass  blow- 
ing, lumbering,  horse  breeding,  poultry  and  fish 
culture,  ice,  brick,  fan,  match,  button,  handker- 
chief, shoe,  and  jewellery  making,  with  pottery, 
lacquer,  weaving,  embroidery,  sake  and  beer 
brewing,  soy,  etc.  These  were  all  finely  repre- 
sented in  the  Fifth  National  Exposition  at  Osaka, 
in  1903.  Even  in  war,  the  Japanese  bring  to 
the  equipment  and  transportation  of  an  army 
and  the  conduct  of  a  campaign  the  same  nicety, 
precision,  detail  and  foresight,  keen  observation, 
dash  and  enterprise,  which  have  made  them  a 
nation  of  artists.  It  seems  almost  incredible 
that  the  nation  pictured  in  this  twentieth  cen- 
tury is  the  same  one  which  we  knew  fifty  years 
ago.  Nevertheless  very  few  native  writers  are 
profuse  in  explaining  the  part  played  by  their 
hired  employees  from  1860  to  1900.  Some 
Japanese,  like  their  foolish  flatterers  and  shallow 
admirers,  seem  to  delight  in  talking  about  their 
wonderful  progress,  as  if  it  were  a  fairy  tale.  In 
this  way  Japanese  with  short  memories  imitate 
the  sensational  newspaper  correspondent  and  sen- 
timental tourist,  who  forget  the  forty  years  of 
varied  toil  of  hand,  heart,  and  brain  of  hundreds 
of  missionaries  and  teachers,  besides  pioneer  edu- 
cators, organizers,  and  promoters  from  Europe 
and  America. 

Chinese   and  Japanese.  —  Many   comparisons 
are  made  between  the  Chinese  and  Japanese,  to 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIBE  2S 

the  disparagement  or  advantage  of  either.  These 
comparisons  are  not  always  intelligent.  They 
rest  too  often  on  partisanship,  ignorance,  or 
lack  of  discrimination.  When  close  examination 
is  made,  it  would  be  hard  to  find  two  peoples  who, 
outwardly  so  much  alike  to  Western  eyes,  are  so 
different  in  their  history,  development,  tempera- 
ment, language,  and  most  of  those  deep  things 
which  belong  to  the  mind  and  the  records  which 
the  mind  has  made.  The  Chinese  are  ethical, 
the  Japanese  are  esthetical.  "  The  former  have 
race  pride,  the  latter  national  vanity.  .  .  .  No 
Chinese  but  glories  in  the  outward  badge  of 
his  race  ;  no  Japanese  but  would  be  delighted 
to  pass  for  a  European,  in  order  to  beat  the 
Europeans  on  their  own  ground. "  The  supreme 
fruit  of  the  Chinese  intellect  is  seen  in  the  moral 
codes  of  Confucius  and  Mencius.  The  whole 
idea  of  Chinese  religion  and  civilization  is  that 
of  order  and  propriety,  with  very  little  idea  of 
beauty  or  love  of  comfort,  and  with  ethical  con- 
ceptions which  by  ages  of  iteration  and  routine 
have  hardened  into  bigotry,  conceit,  worship  of 
ancestors,  agnosticism,  and  a  pragmatic  view  of 
life,  that  has  no  idealism  in  it  and  is  hopelessly 
opposed  to  progress.  Nevertheless  the  Chinese 
are  conservative  of  the  best  things  and  hold  on 
to  that  which  is  good. 

On  the  other  liand,  the  Japanese  have  not 
carried  the  study  of  ethics  so  far,  nor  are  they 
ordinarily  given  to  the  study  and  practice  of 
ethics  as  such,  while  for  profound  philosophy 
they  care  next  to  nothing.    Their  characteristic 


24  DUX  CIIRISTUS 

is  the  love  of  beauty,  that  is  at  once  intense 
and  passionate.  This  is  not,  necessarily,  love 
to  God  or  man  or  righteousness,  but  of  nature 
and  art  in  its  decorative,  rather  than  ideal, 
forms.  Nor  is  this  trait,  as  with  us,  a  compara- 
tively modern  feeling. '  It  is  reflected  in  their 
literature  and  art  from  ancient  times.  They 
have  a  keen  perception  of  natural  charms.  To 
an  ordinary  native  of  Japan  :  — 

"  A  primrose  by  the  river's  brim 
A  yellow  primrose  is  to  him." 

but  in  a  sense  different  from  that  intended  by 
Wordsworth  of  Peter  Bell,  for  it  is  something 
more.  A  Japanese  delights  in  a  flower  for 
its  own  sake.  He  loves  the  rocks  and  trees, 
the  ripple  marks  on  the  sea  sand,  the  stars, 
the  coloring  of  the  skies  and  landscapes,  the 
rosy  red  of  morning,  the  violet  shadows  of  the 
sunset  hour,  and  he  appreciates  thoroughly  liis 
beautiful  country.  That  teacher,  preacher, 
missionary  worker,  will  reach  most  quickly  and 
hold  most  enduringly  who  knows  and  appre- 
ciates that  which  is  their  master-passion, — 
love  of  country  and  beauty. 

The  Story  of  the  Japanese  People.  —  Japan 
is  a  young  not  an  old  country,  and  the  Jap- 
anese are  a  people  no  older  than  the  Anglo- 
Saxon.  They  came  "  out  of  the  woods "  and 
into  civilization  as  late  in  the  world's  history 
as  did  the  Teutonic  tribes.  There  is  a  good 
deal  of  nonsense  written  about  what  was  done 
in   Japan    "  ages    before    Christ "    or    in    "  the 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  25 

time  of  Cyrus."  Their  story  may  be  easily 
divided  into  two  parts,  the  first  part  prehis- 
toric, that  is,  before  letters,  almanacs,  and 
recorded  history  in  writing,  to  the  sixth  C3n- 
tury,  A.D.,  and  the  second,  that  which  comes 
later  with  the  clear  light  of  authentic  records 
of  the  eighth  century  and  following.  No  one 
can  really  understand  modern  Japan  without 
knowing  primitive  Japan  and  the  Japanese 
before  they  came  under  Chinese  and  Buddhist 
influences.  Let  one  diligently  inquire  of  the 
real  history  of  these  islands,  and  he  will  know 
more  of  the  true  genius  of  the  Japanese  than 
if  he  attempts  to  interpret  the  country  and 
people  through  abstract  Western  sciences  and 
popular  beliefs.  To  call  the  first  part  of 
Japan's  story,  as  the  natives  do,  "  the  age  of 
the  gods,"  means  little  besides  mythology  and 
human  history,  for  the  old  "gods,"  or  kami, 
were  ordinary  men  and  nothing  more.  The 
very  word  kami  (upper  or  superior)  does  not 
mean  necessarily  a  supernatural  being.  Indeed, 
tlie  average  Japanese  has  no  clear  distinction 
between  the  natural  and  the  supernatural. 
"  At  least  one-fifth  of  the  Japanese  people 
worship  nothing  higher  than  the  fox."  Yet 
the  kami.,  or  primitive  ancestors,  are  not  only 
honored,  but  worshipped.  Originally,  even 
according  to  native  theory  and  religion,  the 
kami  were  all  earth-born.  In  the  old  Japanese 
writings  the  origin  of  the  universe  is  according 
to  pure  evolution  of  matter  into  beings  with 
life.     In  a  word,  the  "gods"  came  after,  not 


26  DUX  CHRISTUS 

before,  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  were 
made  by  men.  In  their  ancient  view,  the 
world  means  Japan,  and  the  gods  mean  Japan- 
ese only.  All  the  rest  of  the  world  and  its 
inhabitants  are  ignored  in  the  primitive  insu- 
lar traditions. 

The  Japanese  a  Young  Race. — There  is  no 
real  Japanese  history  prior  to  the  fourth  or  fifth 
century.  It  is  true  that  there  are  legends  which 
carry  the  island  story  backward  to  nearly  seven 
alleged  centuries  beyond  the  point  we  call  the 
Christian  era,  and  that  the  government,  in  very 
recent  years,  elaborated  a  system  of  chronology, 
wliich,  like  what  is  "made  in  Germany,"  shows 
the  place  of  its  manufacture.  First  officially 
set  forth  in  1872,  this  system  is  now  rigid 
orthodoxy  to  every  Japanese  drawing  govern- 
ment pay.  Though  the  Western  man  may  smile 
at  the  Japanese  claims,  it  is  not  yet  safe  for 
native  scholars  at  home  to  investigate  critically 
the  popular  notions  about  primeval  events,  for 
the  vulgar  belief  is  part  of  practical  politics 
and  is  protected  by  the  emperor's  advisers  as  a 
bulwark  to  the  throne.  Hence  this  scheme  of 
chronology  and  outline  of  early  history  is  offi- 
cially made  a  part  of  the  school  histories,  and 
is  taught  to  every  child,  just  as  if  Japan  had 
still  a  state  religion.  Read  the  introduction 
and  opening  clauses  of  the  national  constitution 
of  1889. 

It  was  not  till  after  552  a.d.  that,  in  the  train 
of  Buddhism  and  things  imported  from  China, 
the  islanders  possessed  facilities  for  measuring 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  27 

and  recording  time  ;  it  was  over  a  century- 
later  when  the  miscellaneous  floating  stories  of 
the  early  times  were  set  down  in  writing.  The 
first  "emperors,"  or  tribal  chiefs  in  the  tradi- 
tional line,  seventeen  in  number,  are  credited 
with  an  average  reign  of  sixty-two  years,  which 
in  length  is  beyond  anything  known  in  human 
history.  The  average  reign  of  a  mikado  in  the 
list  of  123  is  twenty  years,  and  of  those  since 
400  A.D.,  fourteen  years. 

Japan's  Book  of  Genesis.  —  The  "  Kojiki,  or 
Record  of  Ancient  Things,"  contains  the  prime- 
val legends,  fairy  tales,  and  pretty  stories  of 
various  kinds,  clean  and  unclean.  It  gives  also 
the  genealogies  of  the  early  rulers  and  mikados. 
It  was  put  into  writing  in  the  year  712  a.d. 
The  stories  in  it  were  told  by  a  man  named 
Are,  and  written  down  by  one  Yasumaro,  by 
order  of  the  Empress  Gemmio.  It  is  a  wonder- 
ful picture  of  the  primitive  people  and  of  their 
thoughts,  customs,  and  feelings. 

The  "  Kojiki  "  has  been  translated  into  Eng- 
lish, with  elaborate  notes  and  commentary,  by 
Mr.  Basil  Hall  Chamberlain.  Like  so  many 
Oriental  and  very  ancient  books,  there  are  con- 
siderable portions  of  it  which  are  too  filthy  or 
realistic  to  be  put  into  English,  so  that  these 
objectionable  passages  are  expressed  in  Latin 
by  the  translator.  It  must  not  be  forgotten 
also,  that  the  "  Sacred  Books  of  the  East "  as 
we  have  them  in  English  are  not  exact  tran- 
scripts, but  expurgated  translations,  long  pas- 
sages too  obscene  for  public  print  being  omitted. 


28  DUX  CHBISTUS 

These  same  ancient  legends,  which  we  read 
in  the  "  Kojiki,"  but  set  in  a  very  different  style 
and  literary  framework,  are  also  told  in  the 
"Nihongi,  or  Story  of  Japan."  Here  we  find 
the  old  myths  framed  in  Chinese  rhetoric,  sup- 
ported by  references  to  Chinese  sources,  and 
cast  in  the  general  mould  of  Chinese  philosophy. 
This  work,  issued  in  720  a.d.,  has  been  trans- 
lated into  English,  with  elaborate  notes  and 
commentary,  by  Mr.  W.  G.  Aston,  and  pub- 
lished by  the  Japan  Society  of  London. 

Modern  Scholarship.  —  In  fact,  the  opening  of 
the  treasures  of  both  ancient  and  modern  Jap- 
anese literature  to  the  world,  and  especially  to 
the  EngKsh-speaking  nations,  is,  for  the  most 
part,  the  achievement  of  a  little  group  of  schol- 
ars, most  of  whom  were  connected  with  the 
British  legation  in  Japan.  While  the  British 
scholars  have  excelled  in  linguistics,  literature, 
and  history,  the  American  school  of  writers  has 
opened  the  paths  of  philosophy  and  psychology. 
The  French  have  unveiled  the  world  of  art,  and 
the  Germans  have  exploited  in  every  direction 
the  once  bidden  lodes  of  knowledge.  In  the 
works  of  both  popular  and  scientific  writers, 
but  more  fully  and  thoroughly  in  the  Trans- 
actions of  the  Asiatic  Societies  of  Japan,  one 
may  find  almost  inexhaustible  treasures  of 
knowledge  relating  to  the  once  hermit  king- 
dom. A  set  of  the  Transactions  ought  to  be  in 
every  public  library  in  the  cities  and  towns  of 
all  English-speaking  nations.  These  excellent 
recent  writings  in  English  have  rendered  almost 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  29 

worthless  what  had  been  written  before  by  Eu- 
ropeans. With  Poole's  Index  and  Bibliography 
we  Iiave  vast  treasures  explored  and  catalogued. 
In  Professor  E.  W.  Clement's  "  Handbook  of 
Modern  Japan "  and  in  Professor  Basil  Hall 
Chamberlain's  "  Things  Japanese "  are  also 
select  and  very  serviceable  lists  of  books  on 
Jajjan. 

Racial  Qualities  of  the  Japanese.  —  It  must 
be  remembered  that  the  Japanese  have  all  the 
racial  qualities  that  fit  them  to  engage  in  the 
competitive  struggle  of  the  world's  peoples. 
They  are  not  like  certain  races  which  melt 
away  in  the  presence  of  a  higher  civilization, 
but  rather  are  capable  of  becoming  one  of  the 
foremost  nations  of  the  world.  In  capacity  for 
increase  of  numbers  and  mastery  of  new  forces 
and  problems  they  are  notable.  "The  economi- 
cal, yet  convenient,  customs  of  the  mass  of  the 
people  for  the  care  of  their  young,  their  health- 
ful out-of-door  life  in  most  parts  of  the  countr}', 
the  age  at  which  children  join  their  parents  in 
productive  occupations,  their  strong  family  at- 
tachments making  it  difficult  for  any  one  with 
family  connections  to  be  in  absolute  destitution, 
their  simple  standard  of  living,  all  go  to  show 
that  the  Japanese  are  a  prolific  race,  not  only 
because  the  birth  rate  is  moderately  high,  but 
also  because  the  death  rate  is  low."  Since  the 
checks  and  balances  of  the  elaborate  feudal  sys- 
tem have  been  removed,  the  population  of  Japan 
has  increased  steadily.  All  the  doors  and  out- 
lets to  activity,   enterprise,   and   promotion  — 


30  DUX  CHRI8TU8 

army,  navy,  schools,  courts,  emigration,  foreign 
commerce,  new  professions  and  occupations  — 
have  been  thrown  open,  and  life  is  now  more 
than  ever  worth  living  in  Japan.  The  race 
is  prolific,  and  the  islands  overflow  with  an 
eager  and  alert  people.  Christianity  in  Japan 
means  life,  and  life  more  abundantly. 

Other  Races  in  the  Empire.  —  Japan  is  an 
empire  with  various  races  within  her  bounda- 
ries. Besides  the  pure-blooded  Japanese,  we 
notice  the  Ainos  of  the  north,  probably  a  frag- 
ment of  the  Aryan  or  Caucasian  race.  In  all 
physical  features  they  are  "  white  men,"  but 
savages  lower  than  the  lowest  Japanese.  In 
the  south  are  the  Riu  Kiu  islanders,  and  in 
Formosa  the  copper-colored  aborigines  and  the 
Chinese.  To  all  of  these  peoples  the  gospel  is 
now  brought  in  varying  measure,  and  the  isles 
are  waiting  for  his  law  who  "  shall  not  fail  nor 
be  discouraged  till  he  have  set  judgment  in  the 
earth." 

The  Islands  of  the  Sleeping  Dragon.  —  The 
extended  chain  of  islands  stretching  like  a 
fisherman's  net  rope  between  the  old  empire 
and  Formosa  —  the  low  hills  and  soil  seeming 
like  the  floats  bobbing  just  above  the  ocean's 
surface  —  is  called  by  the  Japanese  Okinawa, 
or  long  cable.  They  are  chiefly  the  work  of 
coral  insects,  and  have  many  names.  Their 
collective  area  is  about  nine  hundred  and  thirty- 
four  square  miles.  The  most  important  island 
is  Okinawa,  of  which  Shuri  is  the  capital  town. 
The  climate,  except  for  the  constant  humidity, 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  31 

which  is  very  trying  to  a  newcomer,  is  pleasant, 
the  mean  temperature  being  70°.  Malarial  con- 
ditions abound,  and  low  fever  is  very  prevalent. 
During  the  summer  months  typhoons  blow  with 
terrible  violence.  The  soil  is  extremely  fertile. 
The  chief  crops  are  sugar,  sweet  potatoes,  rice, 
beans,  melons,  and  plantain,  with  plenty  of  pigs 
on  land  and  many  kinds  of  fish  in  the  sea.  The 
language  of  the  people  is  much  the  same  as  the 
Japanese  in  structure,  but  resembles  Korean 
even  more  than  does  the  modern  tongue  of 
Japan.  The  natives  pronounce  the  name  of 
their  little  country  Du-chu.  The  name  Riu 
Kiu,  which  the  Japanese  use,  means  Sleeping 
Dragon,  referring  probably  to  its  quiet  lying  in 
the  sea,  half  manifested  and  half  hidden  —  that 
is,  not  yet  risen  to  the  skies.  Of  the  fifty-five 
islands,  only  five  or  six  are  of  any  size  or  im- 
portance, yet  the  population  of  the  group  by 
the  census  of  1898  was  453,550.  The  highest 
point  in  the  islands  is  but  a  hundred  yards 
above  the  sea-level. 

Formosa.  —  The  island  Tai-wan,  or  Terraced 
Bay,  is  mentioned  in  the  Chinese  records  as  early 
as  the  seventh  century.  In  the  twelfth  Japan- 
ese adventurers  landed  and  made  conquest  — 
a  bit  of  history  probably  reflected  in  the  fairy 
tale  of  Momotaro,  or  the  Peach  Prince.  From 
the  fifteenth  century  the  Japanese  considered 
the  eastern  half  or  aboriginal  region  as  part 
of  their  empire.  The  Portuguese  who  visited 
the  island  in  1590  were  struck  with  its  lovely 
appearance,  and  named  it  Formosa,  the  Beauti- 


32  DUX  CHBISTUS 

ful.  About  235  miles  long  and  90  miles  in  its 
greatest  breadth,  it  has  an  area  of  3580  square 
miles,  being  about  the  size  of  New  Hampshire 
and  Vermont.  The  forest-clad  mountains  trav- 
ersing it  from  north  to  south  have  peaks  from 
7000  to  nearly  15,000  feet  high,  the  lord  of  all 
being  Mount  Morrison,  or,  as  the  Japanese  call 
it,  Nitaka  Yama,  towering  even  over  Fuji.  Here 
also  are  vast  camphor  forests  of  great  age,  for 
Formosa  is  the  camphor  preserve  of  the  world, 
the  home  also  of  the  morning-glory  and  of  the 
sky-blue  bamboo.  The  eastern  side  is  very 
elevated,  and  on  the  sea-coast  precipitous,  with 
very  few  harbors  or  rivers,  while  the  west  side 
is  a  slope  and  presents  in  every  way  a  great  con- 
trast to  the  bold,  rocky  face  of  the  east,  for  here 
are  the  rivers,  the  fertile  fields  and  plains,  the 
cities,  towns,  and  the  dense  country  population. 
Because  of  the  immense  amount  of  soil  brought 
down  by  the  torrential  streams  from  the  moun- 
tains and  highlands,  the  land  is  steadily  gaining 
on  the  sea.  While  the  southern  tip  of  the  island 
is  comparatively  slim,  the  northern  end  is  spread 
out  widely,  with  rivers,  numerous  coast  towns, 
and  a  dense  population.  The  rainfall  great,  air 
heavy  with  humidity,  and  the  heat  very  enervat- 
ing make  the  climatic  conditions  very  trying 
to  a  stranger.  The  population  by  the  census 
of  1897  consists  of  2,797,543  persons,  mostly 
Chinese,  who,  with  the  aborigines,  of  whoin  at 
least  120,000  are  known,  make  a  possible  total 
of  3,000,000,  including  52,405  in  the  Pescadores 
Islands,  and  16,321  Japanese.     The  Japanese 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  33 

apart  from  the  military  are  mostly  officials, 
teachers,  traders,  and  fishermen,  the  aboriginal 
tribes  and  clans  consisting  mostly  of  savages  liv- 
ing in  the  mountains.  These  are  copper-colored, 
have  bright  eyes,  are  exceedingly  cunning,  and 
until  pacified  by  their  masters  from  Nippon 
were  wholly  given  up  to  head  hunting,  which 
was  the  custom  in  ancient  Japan,  as  it  is  still 
in  Borneo.  Usually  a  man  could  not  get  a  wife 
until  he  had  cut  off  a  certain  number  of  human 
heads,  usually  of  Chinese,  whom  he  ambuscaded 
or  stealthily  approached  in  the  forests,  or  on  the 
outlying  farms.  Shipwrecked  men  often  fur- 
nished him  with  his  spoil.  Hundreds  and  thou- 
sands of  human  skulls,  laid  in  rows  upon  boards, 
or  furnishing  dados  to  the  places  of  assembly, 
adorned  many  of  tlie  villages  in  olden  days.  It 
was  the  cruel  treatment  of  shipwrecked  Ameri- 
cans by  the  Butan  savages  that  first  brought  the 
attention  of  the  United  States  to  these  islanders. 
The  Ainos.  —  In  Hokkaido  dwell  from  fifteen 
to  .seventeen  thousand  subjects  of  the  Mikado, 
called  Ainos,  or  Ainu  (men).  They  are  un- 
doubtedly survivors  of  an  ancient  and  aboriginal 
race  that  was  contemporary  witli  the  primitive 
and  prehistoric  Japanese  and  possibly  with  the 
cavemen  of  Europe.  Whatever  their  origin, 
the  Ainos  are  kinsmen  by  blood,  ideas,  cus- 
toms, and  worship  with  the  ancient  islanders  of 
Nippon.  Science  as  against  sentiment  demon- 
strates the  affinity  of  the  Ainos  and  the  ancient 
Japanese.  The  more  the  Ainos  are  studied, 
the  more  it  is  seen  that  the  majority  of   the 


84  DUX  CHBI8TU8 

Japanese  are  brothers  in  thought  and  ideas 
with  the  Yezo  folk,  and  that  the  two  peoples 
anciently  were  one.  While  the  Japanese  have 
enjoyed  Chinese  culture  and  Buddhist  educa- 
tion for  a  thousand  years  or  more,  and  have 
had  their  minds  fertilized  from  time  to  time 
by  fresh  influences  of  civilization,  and  their 
physique  modified  by  new  infusions  of  blood 
from  the  continent,  the  Ainos  were  left  in 
their  primitive  savagery  on  an  island  separate 
and  scarcely  visited,  certainly  not  greatly  in- 
fluenced by  the  Japanese  until  the  seventeenth 
century. 

The  Japanese  Abroad.  —  The  great  internal 
changes  resulting  from  the  transit  from  her- 
mitage to  brotherhood  with  other  nations,  and 
from  feudalism  into  a  modern  industrialism, 
have  redistributed  the  population.  The  gen- 
eral movement  is  from  the  country  to  the  city, 
and  whereas  most  of  the  world  had  never  seen 
a  Japanese,  now  the  Mikado's  subjects  are  found 
in  every  civilized  country.  Beginning  in  1870, 
the  former  hermits  travelled  abroad.  At  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  with  Russia,  there  were  in 
Hawaii  thirty,  in  the  United  States  twenty,  in 
Korea  thirty,  in  China  five,  and  in  other  coun- 
tries about  ten,  thousand  Japanese.  We  may 
easily  reckon  at  least  a  million  of  men,  soldiers, 
sailors,  and  non-combatants,  as  abroad  during 
the  war  of  1904.  All  this,  in  divine  Provi- 
dence, must  mean  the  passing  away  of  the  old 
Japan  of  paganism  and  superstition,  and  of 
narrow  ideas  and  interests. 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  35 

The  Profit  of  knowing  Japan.  —  Those  who 
wish  to  understand  the  people  whose  ancestors 
have  dwelt  in  the  Japanese  islands  for  two  thou- 
sand years  or  more  will  not  entirely  neglect  the 
study  of  their  physical  environment.  If  the 
foreign  missionary  is  affected  in  health,  spirits, 
capacity  for  work,  —  in  a  word,  in  mind  and 
body,  —  by  the  climate  and  the  unseen  but 
keeidy  felt  conditions  of  nature,  we  can  realize 
how  these  same  conditions,  operating  during 
the  long  ages,  have  with  other  potent  factors 
made  the  Japanese  what  they  are.  Discrimi- 
nation, perception,  and  sympathy  arm  the  gos- 
pel teacher  for  his  warfare  of  love.  Let  none 
neglect  the  study  of  the  Master's  parable  of 
the  seed  growing  secretly,  nor  its  adaptation 
to  the  Japanese  field.  "  Can  it  be  possible 
that,  with  earthquakes  like  these,  our  people 
can  become  equal  to  Europeans?"  asked  the 
Mikado's  envoy,  Arinori  Mori,  of  the  writer, 
when  after  the  return  of  the  former  from  Eng- 
land, he  had  been  shaken,  and  mentally  as 
well  as  bodily  shocked,  by  the  ground  moving 
during  the  niglit.  The  earth-tremors  and  rum- 
blings seemed  to  have  taken,  for  the  moment, 
his  spirit  out  of  him.  If  Palestine  itself  be  a 
"  fifth  gospel,"  if  in  the  Old  Testament  the 
environment  of  Jehovah's  people  by  mountain, 
valley,  river,  and  plain,  be  continually  pictured 
in  psalm  and  narrative,  so  that  the  Hebrew 
language  itself  is  a  mirror  of  the  landscape,  — 
the  book  and  the  land  being  as  sun  and  moon, 
—  so  also  is  it  in  Japan.      The  vernacuhir  and 


36  DUX  CHRISTU8 

the  home  land  of  the  Japanese  are  as  twin 
brother  and  sister,  and  its  history  is  a  child 
in  the  same  family.  When  a  native  preacher, 
after  passing  in  review  all  the  lesser  peaks  of 
scripture  truth,  declared  that  John  iii.  16  ("  God 
so  loved  the  world,"  etc.)  was  "the  Fuji  Yama 
text  of  the  Bible,"  his  audience  thrilled.  When 
Nicolai,  one  of  the  greatest  of  alien  preachers 
in  Japanese,  compared  the  conquering  cross  to 
Taiko's  banner,  his  auditors  were  nearly  lifted 
off  their  feet,  for  Hideyoshi,  the  Taiko,  was 
invincible.  As  Jesus  knew  so  well  the  land  of 
Galilee  and  Hermon,  of  Jerusalem  and  Bethany, 
and  based  his  pictorial  teaching  of  parallels  on 
it,  so  may  we  learn  diligently,  in  part  at  least, 
of  Everlasting  Great  Japan,  and  why  the  people 
love  it  so.  Nor  must  the  alien,  even  though  a 
missionary,  want  to  change,  but  rather  foster 
this  feeling.  The  disciple  is  not  above  his  Lord, 
who  said,  "  I  come  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil." 
The  prophet  has  also  said,  "  And  the  idols  he 
shall  utterly  abolish."  We  are  called  to  be 
co-workers  with  God  in  redeeming  Japan's  fair 
landscape  from  paganism  and  the  minds  of  her 
people  from  superstition,  and  to  lead  them  unto 
the  light  and  liberty  of  the  children  of  God. 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  37 

LITERARY  ILLUSTRATIONS 
First  Impressions 

Japan?  Is  there  another  geographical  term  that  pre- 
sents to  the  imagination  another  such  picture  as  the  word 
Japan? 

England,  Paris,  Greece,  Rome,  these  names  likewise 
affect  the  imagination,  and  each  calls  up  before  the  mind 
a  variety  of  scenes  and  associations  which  are  full  of 
interest;  England,  the  romance  of  history,  the  flower  of 
character,  the  spread  of  empire;  Paris,  brilliancy,  gayety, 
pleasure ;  Greece,  tlie  j>erfections  of  antiquity ;  Rome, 
age,  power,  splendor,  ecclesiastical  domain.  Japan  stands 
for  something  different  from  all  of  these,  and  in  some 
ways  a  good  deal  more,  though  in  most  ways  on  a  smaller 
scale.  But  for  situation,  for  scenery,  for  venerable  years 
and  bounding  youth,  for  possessions  and  ambitions,  for 
actual  performance  and  for  hopeful  promise,  Japan  is 
almost  by  itself  among  the  nations.  "  Unique  "  means 
the  only  one  of  the  kind.  Japan  is  "unique."  There  is 
only  one  Japan.  —  Edward  Abbott. 

Dimensions.  Take  the  state  of  California,  cut  from 
the  end  of  it  a  piece  as  big  as  the  state  of  Maryland,  move 
it  almost  directly  due  wes"t  across  the  Pacific  Ocean  for  a 
distance  of  nearly  five  thousand  miles,  until  it  is  within 
two  days'  easy  sail  by  steam  of  tlie  Asiatic  coast,  turn  i* 
upside  down  and  over  to  the  left  so  that  its  longer  axis 
will  run  from  northea-st  to  southwest,  break  it  up  into  one 
large  island,  tliree  smaller  ones,  and  several  hundreds  if 
not  thousands  of  islets  too  small  aiid  too  sterile  to  be 
inhabited,  then  empty  into  it  half  the  population  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  and  you  have  Japan. 

—  Edward  Abbott. 

It  is  a  land  of  harmonies  and  charms,  a  paradise  for 
artists  and  the  poet's  theme.  —  Edward  Abbott. 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  first  impressions  made 
by  an  Oriental  scene  upon  a  stranger  from  the  Occident. 


38  DUX  CHBISTUS 

Many  thoughts  are  suggested  and  emotions  excited  in  the 
bewildering  transition  from  the  new  to  the  old  world. 
There  is  nothing  familiar  beneath  the  skies.  Physical 
conformations,  men,  women,  and  children,  trees,  plants 
and  flowers,  are  novel  and  intensely  interesting ;  having 
been  seen,  in  the  credulous  days  of  childhood,  only  in  pic- 
tures or  dreams,  of  countries  unreal  and  mythical.  Per- 
chance in  that  springtime  of  life,  rose-colored  and  golden, 
we  were  transported  on  some  magic  roll  of  carpet  to 
these  fairy  regions,  as  we  had  read  of  heroes  and  heroines 
having  been  in  the  "  Arabian  Nights'  Entertainments." 
We  had  visited  Aladdin's  subterranean  cavern,  and  in 
imagination  gathered  jewels  from  the  trees,  and  golden 
treasures,  until  we  were  fabulously  rich.  But  the  rose 
color  faded  into  gray,  the  jewels  dissolved  like  Cleopatra's 
pearl,  and  though  we  stood  upon  Oriental  soil,  it  was  dis- 
enchanted, real,  substantial.  —  L.  H.  Pierson. 

Here  in  the  Orient,  of  which  Japan  is  truly  the  gem, 
every  hill  and  every  valley  are  devoted  to  the  grim  old 
idols,  hideous,  senseless,  and  repulsive,  instruments  of 
the  powers  of  darkness  for  the  confusion  and  destruction 
of  human  beings,  for  whom  Christ  the  Son  of  God  hath 
died.  But  first  impressions  grow  dim,  and  are  brushed 
away  as  the  bloom  from  ripened  fruit,  never  to  be  re- 
newed. The  scenery  becomes  familiar,  the  people  less 
strange,  and  M'onderment  ceases.  One  awful  fact  cannot 
be  ignored,  but  oppresses  and  disturbs  the  heart  of  the 
Christians ;  it  is  a  heathen  country  and  a  heathen  people. 
There,  as  evidence,  stands  the  temple  erected  to  "  Hachi- 
man,"  or  here,  the  shrine  of  Ebisu,  and  above  that  long 
flight  of  stone  steps,  under  the  green  trees,  on  that  lofty 
eminence,  is  a  statue  of  Buddha,  which  belongs  to  the 
mineral  kingdom,  and  is  far  inferior  to  those  who  bow 
down  before  it  in  worship.  Gross  darkness  covers  the 
land  and  its  people.  —  L.  H.  Pieuson. 

The  bad  is  worse  and  the  good  is  better  than  what  I 
expected  to  find.     Before  arriving  my  mind  echoed  the 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  39 

enthusiastically  expressed  sentiments  of  many  a  friend 
who  was  congratulating  us  upon  coming  to  such  an  at- 
tractive field,  a  land  of  flowers  and  pretty  scenery,  a  land 
where  all  is  sunslune  and  sweetness,  where  the  people  are 
clean  and  courteous,  and  where  the  children  never  cry. 
And  even  now  I  am  ready  to  write  the  praises  of  a  coun- 
try that  is  able  to  advance  with  such  unparalleled  leaps 
and  bounds  along  industrial,  educational,  commercial, 
and  civil  lines.  It  is  wonderful !  It  speaks  volumes  for 
Japan's  powers  of  adaptation  and  assimilation.  Never- 
theless, as  I  begin  to  breathe  some  of  the  ideas  prevalent 
among  the  masses,  I  am  impressed  with  the  fact  that 
Japan  is  in  dire  need.  For  in  the  struggle  against  the 
tremendous  forces  which  are  thi-eatening  to  retard  her 
real  progress,  the  forces  of  good  have  to  fight  in  an  at- 
mosphere that  lacks  a  stinmlus  which  is  supplied,  not 
primarily  through  such  a  noble  means  as  patriotism,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  law  of  exjjediency,  but  through  a 
well-trained  sense  of  duty  toward  the  one  personal  God, 
Creator,  and  Father.  —  E.  F.  Bell. 


The  Japanese  farmer  differs  from  the  merchant  and 
the  samurai.  lie  is  siinpler,  more  childlike,  and  doubt- 
less more  superstitious.  He  loves  his  country  shrines, 
and  his  religion  evidently  means  much  to  him.  In  Hawaii 
he  is  said  to  have  built  with  his  surplus  wages  sixteen 
fine  Buddhist  temples.  He  is  not  the  brains  of  Japan, 
but  he  is  the  heart  of  the  nation,  not  the  flower,  but  the 
root.  Sakura  Sogoro  was  a  fanner  and  reveals  the  possi- 
bilities of  his  class.  Until  he  is  brought  into  the  church, 
Christianity  will  not  have  taken  deep  root  here.  I  can- 
not keep  back  the  conviction  that  the  (xod  who  moulds 
history  meant  something  especially  important  for  the 
future  of  this  nation,  when  he  removed  sixty  to  seventy 
thousand  of  these  simple-hearted  folk  to  Hawaii.  And 
if  we  Americans  do  our  duty  there,  during  the  next  ten 
years  the  country  parts  of  Hiroshima,  Yainaguchi,  Fuku- 
oka,  Kumamoto,  Wakayama,  and  Niigata  ought  to  wit- 
ness a  mighty  transformation.  —  Dokemus  Scl'dder. 


40  DUX  CHRISTU8 

Literature  and  History 

Sum  total :  what  Japanese  literature  most  lacks  in' 
genius.  It  lacks  thought,  logical  grasp,  depth,  breadth, 
and  many-sidedness.  It  is  too  timorous,  too  narrow,  to 
compass  great  things.  Perhaps  the  court  atmosphere 
and  predominantly  feminine  influence  in  which  it  was 
nursed  for  the  first  few  centuries  of  its  existence  stifled 
it,  or  else  the  fault  may  have  lain  with  the  Chinese  for- 
malism in  which  it  grew  up.  But  we  suspect  that  there 
was  some  original  sin  of  weakness  as  well.  Otherwise 
the  clash  of  India  and  China  with  old  mythological 
Japan,  of  Buddhism  with  Shinto,  of  imperialism  with 
feudalism,  and  of  all  with  Christianity  in  the  sixteenth 
century  and  with  Dutch  ideas  a  little  later,  would  have 
produced  more  important  results.  If  Japan  has  given  us 
no  music,  so  also  has  she  given  us  no  immortal  verse. 
But  Japanese  literature  has  occasional  graces,  and  is  full 
of  incidental  scientific  interest. 

—  Basil  Hall  Chamberlain. 

The  art  of  writing  history  has  not  made  much  progress 
in  recent  years.  Modern  methods  of  investigation  and 
principles  of  historical  criticism  are  known  and  accepted; 
but  a  great  sifting  of  the  existing  heterogeneous  material 
must  be  done  before  history,  as  we'  understand  it,  can  be 
written.  Nobody  has  yet  made  any  serious  attempt  to 
distinguish  the  true  from  the  false  in  the  old  Japanese 
annals,  though  it  is  pretty  generally  acknowledged  that 
this  process  is  indispensable.  —  W.  G.  Aston. 


The  Lack  of  Idealism 

Neither  their  past  history  nor  their  prevailing  tastes 
show  any  tendency  to  idealism.  They  are  lovers  of  the 
practical  and  the  real.  Neither  the  fancies  of  Goethe  nor 
the  reveries  of  Hegel  are  to  their  liking.  Our  poetry  and 
our  philosophy  and  the  mind  that  appreciates  them  are 
alike  the  result  of  a  network  of  subtle  influences  to  which 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  41 

the  Japanese  are  comparative  strangers.  It  is  maintained 
by  some,  and  we  think  justly,  that  the  lack  of  idealism  in 
the  Japanese  mind  renders  the  life  of  even  the  most 
cultivated  a  mechanical,  humdrum  affair  when  compared 
with  that  of  Westerners.  The  Japanese  cannot  under- 
stand why  our  controversialists  should  wax  so  fervent 
over  psychological,  ethical,  religious,  and  philosophical 
questions,  —  at  the  interest  taken  in  such  subjects.  The 
charms  that  the  cultured  Western  mind  finds  in  the  world 
of  fancy  and  romance,  in  questions  themselves,  irrespec- 
tive of  their  practical  bearings,  is  for  the  most  part  unin- 
telligible to  the  Japanese.  —  B.  H.  Chamberlain. 

The  characteristic  in  which  the  Chinese  and  Japanese 
most  agree  (and  other  Far-Eastern  peoples,  —  the  Koreans 
for  example,  —  agree  in  it  also)  is  materialism.  That  is 
where  the  false  note  is  struck,  which,  when  long  resi- 
dence [in  Japan]  has  produced  familiarity,  jars  on  Euro- 
pean nerves,  and  j^reveuts  true  intellectual  sympathy. 

—  B.  H.  Chamberlain. 

We  foreigners,  being  mere  lookers-on,  may  no  doubt 
sometimes  regret  the  substitution  of  commonplace  Euro- 
pean ways  for  the  glitter,  the  glamour,  of  picturesque 
Orientalism.  But  can  it  be  doubtful  which  of  the  two 
civilizations  is  the  higher,  both  materially  and  intellec- 
tually? And  does  not  the  whole  experience  of  the  last 
three  hundred  years  go  to  prove  that  no  Oriental  state 
which  retains  distinctively  Oriental  institutions  can  hope 
to  keep  its  territory  free  f lom  Western  aggression  ?  What 
of  India?  What  even  of  China?  And  what  was  Com- 
modore Perry's  visit  but  a  threat  to  the  effect  that  if 
Japan  chose  to  remain  Oriental  she  should  not  be  al- 
lowed to  remain  her  own  mistress?  From  the  moment 
when  the  intelligent  samurai  of  the  leading  clans  realized 
that  the  Europeanization  of  the  country  was  a  question  of 
life  and  death,  they  (for  to  this  day  the  government  has 
continued  practically  in  their  hands)  have  never  ceased 
carrying  out  the  work  of  reform  and  progress. 

—  B.  n.  Chamberlain. 


42  DUX  CHRISTUS 

The  Future 

I  have  absolute  confidence  in  the  final  acceptance  of 
Christianity  by  the  Japanese.  There  is  no  race  char- 
acteristic in  true  Christianity  that  bars  the  way.  Fur- 
thermore, the  growth  of  the  Japanese  in  recent  years, 
intellectually  and  in  the  reorganization  of  the  social 
order,  points  to  their  final  acceptance  of  Christianity 
and  renders  it  necessary.  —  S.  L.  Gulick. 

In  loyally  accepting  science,  popular  education,  and 
the  rights  of  every  individual  to  equal  protection  by  the 
government,  Japan  has  accepted  the  fundamental  con- 
ceptions of  civilization  held  in  the  West,  and  has  thus 
become  an  integral  part  of  Chrutendom,  a  fact  of  world- 
wide signijicance.  —  S.  L.  Gulick. 


A  Word  not  in  the  Original  Scriptures 

The  Japanese  are  very  sensitive  over  this  word 
["heathen"].  It  seems  to  them  an  offensive  and  rude 
term,  a  word  of  inferiority  or  even  of  contempt.  It  was 
from  our  English  Bible,  doubtless,  that  it  came  so  widely 
into  use.  Yes ;  but  go  to  the  Revised  Version  and  not 
one  single  passage  in  the  New  Testament  can  be  found 
with  this  word  in  it.  Christ  and  his  disciples  never  used 
it.  They  spoke  of  nations  with  respect  and  hope;  never 
of  heathen,  pagans,  outsiders.  The  revised  Old  Testament, 
too,  has  largely  done  the  same.  Our  new  Bible  is  pretty 
well  cleared  up,  so  far  as  the  word  "  heathen "  is  con- 
cerned. The  worst  people  in  our  so-called  Christian 
civilization  use  this  word  most  freely.  Gamblers,  hard 
drinkers,  pharisaical  moralists,  and  low  politicians  can- 
not ring  changes  enough  on  it.  "The  heathen  Chinese," 
"the  heathen  Jap,"  are  the  words  of  human  beings  who 
never  had  a  noble  thought  toward  the  people  of  another 
nation  nor  a  spark  of  true  patriotism.  So  that  I  would 
raise  the  question  :  Isn't  it  time  that  we  missionaries  part 
company  with  those  who  roll  the  word  "  heathen  "  under 


THE  ISLAND   EMPIRE  43 

their  tongues  as  a  sweet  morsel  of  contempt?  Shall  we 
Christians  at  home  or  in  mission  fields  be  courteous  in 
preaching  the  gladdest  tidings  on  earth,  or  not? 

—  A  Veteran  Missionary  in  Japan. 

As  long  as  I  fear  God  and  walk  in  his  ways  you  will 
remain  in  memory,  for  "My  God"  and  "My  Teacher" 
have  such  a  strong  connection  that  I  really  cannot  think 
about  the  one  without  being  reminded  of  the  other. 
Indeed,  I  believe  nearly  all  your  old  scholars  who  are 
making  their  way  in  this  sinful  world  must  often  think 
of  you,  and  the  benediction  will  arise  in  their  hearts 
"  Blessed  old  Teacher,  imparter  of  the  Truth  "  as  I  think 
always. 

—  Letter  of  a  Japanese  wife  and  mother,  alumna  of  "  The 
Home." 


44  DUX  CHRISTUS 


THEMES  FOR  STUDY  AND  DISCUSSION 

I.   Classes  and  Races  in  the  Japanese  Empire. 
II.   The  Persistent  Characteristics  of  the  Japanese  in 
every  Age. 
III.   How  the  Laud  and  the  People  have  influenced 

each  Other. 
rV.   Situation  of  Japan  as  determining  its  History. 
V.   Situation  of  Japan  as  influencing  its  Future. 
VI.    Effect  of  Earthquakes  and  Natural  Phenomena  on 

Temperament  and  Character. 
VII.   Reaction   of   the   Landscape  upon  the  Japanese 

Love  of  Beauty. 
VIII.   Missionary  Work  as  conditioned  by  Japan's  Politi- 
cal Uniqueness. 
IX.   Missionary  Work  as  affected  by  the  Geography  of 
Japan. 
X.   The  Ainos,  Riu  Kiuans,  and  native  Formosans. 
XI.   The  Value  for  Work  and  Teaching  of  a  Knowledge 
of  Things  Japanese. 
XII.   The  Japanese  Abroad. 


WORKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  ALL  THE 
CHAPTERS 

For  general  reference  on  this  chapter  and  succeeding 
ones : — 

"  Encyclopaedia  of  Missions."  Edited  by  E.  M.  Bliss. 
Funk  &  Ingalls  Co. 

Encyclopaedias,  —  the  Britannica  (1903),  New  Interna- 
tional (1904),  etc.     Dodd,  Mead  &  Co. 

J.  S.  Dennis.  "  Christian  Missions  and  Social  Progress." 
(1902.)     F.  H.  Revell  Co. 

B.  H.  Chamberlain.  "  Things  Japanese  "  (1903)  ;  Trans- 
lation of  "  Kojiki  "  (1882)  ;  "  Classical  Poetry  of  the 
Japanese  "  (1880)  ;  "  Handbook  for  Japan  "  (1903)  ; 
and  "  Aino  Studies  "  (1887).  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  45 

Aston.  "  History  of  Japanese  Literature "  (1899) ; 
Translation  of  the  "Xihongi"  (1896).  D.  Apple- 
ton  &  Co. 

Brinkley.  "Oriental  Series  —  Japan."  (1903.)  J.  B. 
Millet  Co. 

T.  A.  S.  J.  Transactions  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of 
Japan.     (1873-1904.) 

E.  W.    Clement.     "  A    Handbook    of    Modern    Japan."' 

(1904.)     A.  C.  McCliirg  &  Co. 

F.  O.   Adams.     "History  of  Japan,"  to  1871.     (1875.) 

H.  S.  King  &  Co. 
W.E.Griffis.    "The  Mikado's  Empire."  (1903.)  Harpers. 
J.  J.  Rein.     "  Japan  "  (1884)  ;  and  "  Industries  of  Japan  " 

(1S89).     A.  C.  Armstrong  &  Son. 
A.  B.  Mitford.     "  Tales  of  Old  Japan."     (1890.)     G.  P. 

Putnam's  Sons. 
E.  S.  Morse.     "Japanese  Homes  and  their  Surroundings." 

(18S5.)     Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 
J.  Batohelor.     "  The  Ainu  of  Japan."     (1892.)     F.  H. 

Revell  Co. 
J.  W.   Davidson.      "The  Island  of  Formosa."     (1903.) 

Macmillan  &  Co. 
W.  Campbell.  "  Missionary  Success  in  Formosa."   (1889.) 

G.  L.  Mackay.     "  From  Far  Formosa."     (1895).     F.  H. 

Revell  Co. 
I.  Bird  (Bishop).     "Unbeaten  Tracks  in  Japan."    (1881.) 
G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons. 

Books  of  Rkferenck  for  Chapter  I 

D.  Murray.  "The  Story  of  Japan."  (1894.)  G.  P. 
Putnam's  Sons. 

J.  A.  Scherer.  "Japan  To-day."  (1904.)  J.  B.  Lip- 
pincott  Co. 

W.  E.  Griffis.  "  Japan  ;  In  History,  Folklore,  and  Art." 
(1892.)      Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 

O.  Cary.  "Japan  and  Its  Regeneration."  (1899.)  Stu- 
dent Volunteer  Movement. 

R.  B.  Peerv.  "The  Gist  of  Japan."  (1900.)  F.  II. 
Revell^  Co. 


46  DUX  CHEISTUS 

M.  L.  Gordon.     "  An  American  Missionary  in  Japan." 

(1892.)     Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 
J.  Morris.     "  Advanfce  Japan."     (1895.)     J.  B.   Lippin- 

cott  Co. 
H.  Norman.     "  The  Real  Japan."     (1892.)     Scribners. 
L.  Hearn.     "  Glimpses  of  Unfamiliar  Japan."     (1894.) 

Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 
S.  L.  Gulick.     "Evolution   of   the  Japanese."     (1903.) 

F.  H.  ReveU  Co. 


I 


CIIROXOLOGICAL   FRAMEWORK 

6G7  B.C.-400  A.D.     Era  of  mythology  and  legend.     The 

first  seventeen  legendary  emperors. 
552   .  .  .     Entrance  of  Buddhism.     Opposition  of  the 

Shintoists. 
002    .  .  .     Chinese  calendars  introduced. 
6i5   .  .  .     ^Measurement  of  time  by  year-periods. 
700    .  .  .     Custom  of  cremation  begun. 
709    .  .  .     Court  ceases  to  be  nomadic.     Xara  the  capi- 
tal,    (ireat  Buddhist  activity  at  the  court. 
712    .  .  .     "Kojiki"  (Record  of  Ancient  Matters)  writ- 
ten. 
794    .  .  .     Kioto    made    the   capital    (for    nearly   1100 

years). 
1091-1192  Period  of  the  civil  wars  of  the  military  clans. 
Revolts  of  the  Buddhist  monks.  Decadence 
of  the  Mikado's  power.  Seat  of  govern- 
ment fixed  at  Kamakura.  Duarchy.  Feudal 
system  developed. 
1219-1333     The  Mojo  rulers  at  Kamakura.     Repulse  of 

the  ]Mongol-Tartar  armada,  1281. 
1335-1573     Era  of  art  and  luxury,  followed  by  civil  war. 

The  Ashikaga  rulers  at  Juimakura. 
1542    .  .  .     First     Europeans    (Portuguese)    in    Japan. 

Tobacco  and  firearms. 
1573-1600     Era  of  the  "  Three  Great  Men,"  Xobunaga, 
Ilideyoshi,     and     lyeyasu.      Invasion    of 
Korea.     Roman  Catholic  Christians. 
1010-1870     Scholastic  revival  of  Pure  Shinto. 
1715   .  .  .     Publication    of    Prince   Mito's    "  History   of 

Japan." 
1703    .  ,  .     Ninth  and  last  of  the  female  mikailos. 
1761    .  .  .     (Jreat  famine.     Over  one  million  deaths  by 

starvation. 
1715-1808     Intellectual  movements  leading  to  the  Res- 
toration of  180S. 
1837    .  .  .     American  ship  Morrison  in  Yedo  Bay. 
1818    .  .  .     Ronald  McDonald  teaches  English  in  Japan. 
18.53    .  .  .     Commodore  Perry  at  L'raga. 
47 


48 


DUX  CHRISTUS 


Continued  from  page  47. 


1859  .  .  . 

1868  .  .  . 

1871  .  .  . 

1872  .  .  . 

1873-1888 

1883  .  .  . 

1889  .  .  . 

1894  .  .  . 

1899  .  .  . 

1900  .  .  . 

1904  .  .  . 

Foreign  trade  and  residence  in  the  ports. 
Change    of    government.     "  Charter  Oath." 

Era  of  Meiji. 
Abolition  of  the  feudal  system. 
First  Protestant  church,  missionary  confer- 
ence, railway,  national  army,  and  school 

system. 
Political    commotions,     sweeping    reforms. 

Modern  industrialism. 
Missionary  conference  in  Osaka. 
The    Constitution   proclaimed.      Liberty  of 

conscience  declared. 
Chino-fJapanese  war,  resulting  in  the  cession 

of  Formosa. 
Japan    recognized    on   equal  terms  by  the 

nations  of  Christendom. 
Japan  allied  with  Christian  nations  in  China. 

General  missionary  conference  in  Tokio. 
Russo-Japanese  war. 


CHAPTER   II 

THE  MAKING    OF    THE    NATION 

Aboriginal  Japan.  —  In  the  making  of  the 
Japanese  nation  we  discern  four  great  periods  : 
first,  prehistoric  or  original  Japan,  in  which 
were  many  tribes  but  little  or  no  unity  ;  second, 
the  thousand  years  of  Buddhism,  from  the  sixth 
to  the  sixteenth  century,  when  the  Japanese 
mind  was  influenced  by  the  Aryan  religion  and 
the  people  educated  in  ideas  and  institutions 
imported  from  the  Asian  mainland  ;  third, 
national  hermitage  and  the  dominance  of  the 
Confucian  ethics  and  philosophy,  from  the 
opening  of  the  seventeenth  to  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  century  ;  fourth,  the  modern 
era  of  the  decadence  of  paganism  and  of  inter- 
course and  brotherhood  with  the  nations  of  the 
world,  during  the  era  of  Meiji,  or  Enlightened 
Civilization  (1868-1904),  in  which  the  inform- 
ing spirit  is  Christianity. 

The  great  bulk  of  the  Japanese  people 
and  the  Ainos  of  Hokkaido  are  brethren. 
These  mild  savages  now  inhabiting  Yezo 
and  the  Kuriles  were  once  the  inhabitants 
of  nearly  the  whole  archipelago.  Professor 
B.  H.  Chamberlain,  in  his  "Aino  Studies,"  makes 
elaborate  comparison  of  tlie  language,  mythol- 
£  49 


50  DUX  CHRIST  us 

ogy  and  geographical  nomenclature  of  the  Jap- 
anese with  those  of  the  Aino.  They  are  aston- 
ishingly similar.  The  conclusions  of  scholars 
point  to  the  fact  that  "the  Japanese  realm 
was  once  an  Aino  realm."  The  Yezo  people, 
who  once  fiercely  fought  against  the  ancient 
Japanese,  bear  the  same  relation  to  the  culti- 
vated and  polished  people  of  Japan'  that  the 
fierce  Norsemen  of  the  Middle  Ages  do  to 
Christian  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  Stockholm 
or  Christiania,  or  our  own  ancestors,  the  wild 
Germanic  tribes  in  their  forests,  do  to  the 
the  Christian  people  of  Prussia,  the  Nether- 
lands, or  England  of  to-day.  Culture  and  re- 
ligion, under  divine  Providence,  have  lifted  up 
the  once  lowly  races  of  the  Japanese  islands. 
The  Ainos,  separated  from  the  general  stream 
of  civilizing  activities,  which  the  people  farther 
south  have  enjoyed  for  over  a  thousand  years, 
have  stagnated.  Untouched  savage  life  has  left 
the  Aino  what  he  is  to-day,  a  hunter  and  fisher- 
man amid  ignorance,  and  under  conditions  for 
ages  sadly  near  the  brutes,  until  in  late  years  he 
has  been  taught  and  elevated  by  Christian  men 
and  women. 

This  does  not  mean  that  the  Ainos  and  Jap- 
anese are  entirely  one  in  the  quality  of  their 
blood,  for  the  Japanese  are  in  origin  a  very 
mixed  people.  Mongol,  Tartar,  Malay,  Nigrito, 
Hindoo,  Chinese,  and  more  particularly  ancient 
Korean  blood,  flows  in  their  veins.  The  various 
bodies  of  emigrants  who  reached  Japan  from 
the  continent  during  the  unrecorded  centuries 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  51 

had  no  unity  or  special  knowledge  of  each  other. 
Superimposed  upon  these  strata  of  humanity  we 
find  another  body  of  invaders  who  came  from 
"  Ama "  —  wherever  on  the  earth,  or  in  the 
realm  of  fancy,  that  region  may  be.  These 
were  the  conquerors  who,  with  superior  dogmas, 
weapons,  and  social  and  political  systems,  began 
that  unifying  process  of  conquest  and  civiliza- 
tion which  ultimately  made  the  Japanese  a 
nation. 

Migrations  and  Cycles  of  Tradition.  —  On  the 
literary  side  we  may  construct  from  the  Kojiki 
a  map  of  the  migrations  of  traditions,  as  well  as 
of  the  men  who  made  the  stories.  To  them  all 
of  the  Japanese  archipelago,  either  below  or 
north  of  the  thirty-eighth  parallel,  is  unknown. 
Korea  is  the  far-off  land  known  only  at  points 
along  its  coast.  China  is  heard  of  only  very  late 
in  the  story,  but  "the  world"  to  the  Kojiki 
myth-makers  consists  of  the  three  great  islands 
that  we  know,  with  a  few  islets  in  the  Japan  Sea, 
that  served  as  stepping  stones  from  the  conti- 
nent. 

Of  the  three  cycles  of  traditions  recognizable, 
two  seem  to  correspond  to  lines  of  immigration 
from  Korea  and  the  mainland  of  Asia.  The 
first  covers  the  regions  south  of  the  thirty-fourth 
parallel  of  latitude.  In  this  section  are  the 
accounts  of  creation,  or  rather  of  evolution,  and 
the  multiplication  and  quarrels  of  the  gods. 
These  "  gods  "  were  simply  kami^  that  is,  men  of 
rank  and  influence  in  the  tribes  and  clans. 

The  second  cycle  of  stories  may  be  included 


52  DUX  CHRISTUS 

between  the  thirty-fifth  and  thirty-seventh  par- 
allels covering  the  region  of  the  southwestern 
coast  of  Hondo,  where  it  is  much  indented. 
The  general  area  is  the  land  on  the  west  and 
north  side  of  the  mountains,  as  viewed  from 
the  region  around  Kioto  —  the  first  seat  of  letters 
and  civilization.  In  this  section  we  have  the 
stories  of  the  conquest  and  peopling  of  Japan, 
with  not  a  few  pretty  legends  like  fairy  tales. 

The  third,  or  Yamato  legendary  cycle,  covers 
the  region  lying  on  the  south  side  of  Japan's 
great  mountain  range  and  facing  the  seashore. 
It  extends  from,  say,  the  one  hundred  and 
thirty-fourth  meridian  east,  up  to  the  region 
of  Tokio,  that  is,  on  the  sunny  and  ocean  side 
of  the  mountains.  During  this  cycle  conquests 
were  made  in  what  was  then  considered  the 
Far  East,  around  and  north  of  Yedo  Bay.  Pretty 
much  the  whole  country  north  of  the  thirty- 
fifth  parallel  was  then  occupied  by  the  barbar- 
ous tribes  that  had  not  come  under  the  rule  of 
the  Yamato  chiefs.  The  land  still  nearer  the 
polar  star  was  spoken  of  as  "the  north  coun- 
try," or  "the  pathless." 

The  Japanese  a  Young  Nation.  —  The  critical 
student  finds  himself  unable  to  stand  with  the 
average  "educated"  Japanese  of  to-day.  The 
latter  feels  that  he  must  draw  the  line  some- 
where, so  he  rejects  "the  age  of  the  gods"  as 
historical,  but  he  accepts  implicitly  the  so-called 
"history"  of  the  mikados,  from  Jimmu,  the 
dragon-born  hero  of  legend,  down  to  the  pres- 
ent emperor.     In  a  word,  he  makes  out  that  his 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  53 

nation  is  old,  instead  of  realizing  that  the  Jap- 
anese are  a  young  race.  By  and  by,  the  Mi- 
kado's subjects  will  get  over  this  baseless  notion 
of  Japan's  great  antiquity.  Most  of  our  unre- 
vised  encyclopaedias  and  those  foreign  writers 
and  people  who,  after  a  hasty  tour  of  a  few 
weeks,  write  books  on  Japan,  have  followed  in 
the  steps  of,  or  copied  after,  patriotic  native 
writers,  who  talk  about  Japan's  "  authentic  his- 
tory covering  twenty-five  hundred  years." 

To  get  this  long  period  of  time,  the  early 
makers  of  chronology  took  traditions,  folk-lore, 
and  fairy  tales,  and  out  of  these  constructed 
tlieir  own  story  on  a  Chinese  model,  filling  up 
the  voids  with  imaginary  events  and  persons. 
Much  of  the  language  even,  which  is  used  to 
describe  events  of  the  centuries  before  the  time 
of  Christ,  is  taken  from  Chinese  books,  them- 
selves written  a  thousand  years  after  the  events 
described.  A  similar  instance  is  seen  in  the 
Arabian  Nights  Entertainments,  in  which  the 
people  who  lived  many  hundreds  of  years  be- 
fore Mahomet  talk  according  to  Mahometan 
words  and  ideas.  In  the  great  body  of  so- 
called  "  history,"  as  thus  far  written  in  Japan, 
the  subjects  most  interesting  to  a  Christian  or 
an  Occi<lental  are  left  out.  It  is  rank,  office, 
figureheads,  routine,  that  we  read  most  about, 
not  of  real  persons,  or  events  of  moral  signifi- 
cance, and  profound  human  interest.  The  old 
books  tell  next  to  nothing  of  things  foreign  and 
Christian  in  the  sixteentli  and  seventeenth  cen- 
turies.     Indeed,  what  "official"  history,  even 


54  DUX  CHBISTU8 

in  our  own  day,  shows  anything  of  the  immense 
debt  of  Japan  to  her  foreign  helpers,  advisers, 
and  educators  ?  Nevertheless,  a  new  spirit  is 
abroad  and  a  new  day  coming. 

The  Yamato  House  and  the  Mikado.  —  The  Ko- 
jiki  narratives  reveal  the  fact  that  in  central 
Japan  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries  what  we 
shall  call  the  House  of  Yamato  is  gradually 
getting  under  its  control  the  other  tribes  near 
by.  In  time,  but  hardly  before  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, this  rule  extends  over  the  whole  south 
and  east  of  the  main  island,  Shikoku,  and  Kiu- 
shiu,  although  the  hold  is  slight,  and  there  are 
many  outbreaks  and  rebellions.  Marauding 
parties  occasionally  visit  Korea  and  conquer 
parts  of  the  coast  land.  One  bold  young  prince 
or  chief's  son,  named  Yamato  Dake,  makes  a 
journey  eastward  to  conquer  the  Ainos,  or  bar- 
barians. Coming  to  the  Bay  of  Yedo,  the  sea- 
god  raises  a  storm,  apparently  to  check  further 
advance.  The  chieftain's  wife  leaps  into  the 
sea  as  an  offering  to  the  wrathful  kami,  and  is 
drowned.  From  the  sigh  "Adzuma"  (my 
wife  !)  uttered  by  the  hero  as  he  returned 
victorious  after  his  adventures  in  the  north 
to  the  place  of  sacrifice,  the  region  around 
Tokio  is  still  poetically  called  Adzuma.  In 
1870  Prince  "  Adzuma,"  the  Mikado's  cousin, 
while  travelling  in  America,  took  this  name. 
The  Japanese  men-of-war  being  always  named 
after  pretty  women  and  beautiful  places,  one  of 
them  is  the  Adzuma. 

The  head  of  the  house  or  tribe  dominant  was 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  55 

called  from  his  office  or  place  of  rule ;  for  the 
Japanese,  always  impersonal,  ignore  the  name, 
and  lay  emphasis  upon  the  house,  family  name, 
place,  or  rank,  and  this  name.  Mikado  (awful 
place  or  sublime  porte),  reveals  that  great  char- 
acteristic of  secrecy  and  mystery  which  the 
Japanese  will  keep  up  in  regard  to  their  em- 
peror and  in  some  few  other  things.  Though 
this  mystery  play  is  in  process  of  effacement 
before  the  light  of  truth,  common-sense,  the 
rising  spirit  of  democracy,  and  the  necessities 
of  modern  life,  the  ability  of  the  Japanese  to 
preserve  secrecy  in  diplomatic  and  military 
matters  is  admirable.  Even  yet  it  often  hap- 
pens that  a  man  is  not  officially  dead  until  long 
after  the  breath  has  left  his  body. 

Beginning  of  History. —  We  begin  Japanese 
history,  then,  at  the  opening  of  the  fifth  cen- 
tury, leaving  the  legends  and  fairy  tales  for 
those  who  enjoy  them,  either  as  fact  or  fancy, 
and  letting  them  serve  their  purpose  in  art, 
literature,  and  that  emotional  and  sentimental 
religion,  of  which  Shinto  is  the  expression, 
which  has  no  necessary  connection  with  right- 
eousness. We  notice  that  from  the  introduc- 
tion of  Chinese  letters  and  writings  and  the 
civilizing  religion  of  Buddhism,  there  began 
three  processes  of  welding  all  the  people  of  the 
archipelago  into  a  commonwealth,  and  of  ex- 
panding the  mind  and  feeding  the  heart  of  the 
Japanese  man.  They  were  military,  civil,  and 
religious.  Let  us  look  at  these  two  great 
streams  of  influence  and  power. 


56  DUX  CHRI8TU8 

The  method  of  making  one  nation  of  all  the 
islands  was  begun  within  the  country  by  de- 
spatching military  forces  to  the  south  and  west 
and  to  the  far  east  and  north.  Gradually  these 
soldiers  brought  the  whole  body  of  the  inhabit- 
ants in  obedience  to  the  Mikado,  and  under 
one  general  system  of  political  life.  Thus  the 
way  was  opened  for  the  culture,  education,  and 
religion  that  came  in  the  train  of  the  Buddhist 
missionaries.  It  took  six  or  seven  centuries  to 
complete  this  process  of  conquest,  which  was 
like  that  of  the  Roman  Empire  over  the  various 
tribes  and  peoples  of  Europe,  Western  Asia, 
and  North  Africa.  Great  social  and  political 
results  followed.  One  of  these  deserves  special 
notice,  for  it  led  to  that  form  of  Japanese  politi- 
cal life  which  lasted  for  a  thousand  years, 
serving  also  as  a  framework  of  sociology  and 
ethics  —  feudalism. 

As  war  became  more  and  more  a  system,  it 
was  found  necessary  to  have  a  special  class  of 
men  always  ready  for  service.  For  this  the 
stronger  and  able-bodied  men  were  selected  to 
be  soldiers,  while  those  who  tilled  the  soil  were 
left  as  farmers  and  laborers.  This  meant  that 
in  the  evolution  of  the  centuries  the  vast  major- 
ity of  the  people  should  remain  at  home  to 
follow  a  narrow  round  of  life,  with  only  a  slight 
measure  of  culture,  and  thus  to  become  the 
stolid,  conservative  body  of  people  which  we 
find  them  to-day.  From  the  severely  critical 
point  of  view,  the  tillers  of  the  soil  still  follow 
a  routine  that  is  almost  animal.     They  are  for 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  57 

the  most  part  unmitigated  pagans,  the  prey  of 
the  priests  and  given  to  superstition,  and  with 
whom  the  liberal  and  progressive  men  and  the 
government  have  the  hardest  problem,  while 
engaged  in  securing  the  evolution  of  the  Jap- 
anese into  a  modern  man.  Slowest  to  respond 
to  civilizing  effort,  they  make,  when  abroad  as 
emigrants,  a  kind  of  Japanese  that  the  tourist 
in  Tokio,  especially  those  steeped  in  the  writ- 
ings of  the  lackadaisical  school  of  foreign 
writers,  scarcely  sees  or  dreams  of.  Neverthe- 
less, kindness  and  perseverance  win  them  to 
the  Saviour,  for  to  them,  when  away  from  the 
priest  and  understanding  the  message,  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ  is  indeed  the  "  good  news " 
of    God. 

The  Rise  of  the  Samurai.  —  On  the  other 
hand,  the  soldier  who  was  a  samurai  (now  called 
shizoku'),  that  is,  a  servant  of  the  Mikado,  was 
started  on  the  line  of  progress,  and  began  that 
shining  career  of  over  a  thousand  years  which 
has  made  a  kind  of  man  that  is  unique  in  Asia. 
Abundant  opportunities  of  movement  and  of 
exciting  and  enlightening  experiences  wee 
given  him.  He  entered  the  school  of  discipline, 
of  ethics,  and  of  politeness.  Under  this  system 
there  has  been  evolved  that  superb  system  of 
chivalry,  manners,  self-mastery  of  the  body,  and 
culture  of  the  spirit,  called  Bushido,  or  the 
Knightly  Way.  The  existence  of  this  body  of 
men,  exemplars  of  courtesy  and  culture,  with 
their  faces  now  turned  away  from  Confucius, 
and,  as  we  believe,  to  the  Christ,  is  what  makes 


58  DUX  CHRISTUS 

Japan  so  different  from  Korea,  and  especially 
from  China,  where,  as  a  rule,  the  soldier  is  a 
Manchu  and  the  scholar  a  Chinese,  separated 
from  and  mutually  despising  each  other.  All 
the  culture  and  forces  were  united  and  incar- 
nated in  the  nobler  ranks  of  the  samurai,  so 
that  to-day  there  is  no  other  man  in  Asia  quite 
like  him,  superbly  trained  as  he  is  in  body  and 
mind.  During  the  millennium  of  luxury  he 
shared  also  in  the  delights  and  discipline  of  let- 
ters, of  religion,  and  of  taste.  Thus  the  samu- 
rai, at  once  soldier  and  scholar,  warrior  and 
gentleman,  is  the  consummate  white  flower  of 
Japanese  civilization,  the  creator  of  public  opin- 
ion, who  wields  the  destinies  of  his  country. 
Nearly  all  the  first  missionary  converts,  as  are 
now  most  of  the  leaders  of  the  Christian  church 
in  Japan,  and  of  the  nation,  were  of  the  samurai 
or  knightly  class.  To-day  the  Christian  samu- 
rai are  the  Mores  Christi,  Blossoms  of  the 
Christ.  Happily  in  our  era,  since  feudalism 
has  passed  away,  the  Japanese  common  people 
have  inherited  the  spirit  and  have  adopted  many 
of  the  ideas  of  the  old  samurai.  Yet  so  differ- 
ent is  now  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  the  new 
meaning  and  value  given  to  life  by  Christianity, 
that  it  is  quite  common  for  men  of  the  rank  of 
gentry  to  step  down  into  the  grade  of  com- 
moners. In  the  sight  of  God  a  man  is  a  man, 
and  a  king  is  nothing  more. 

The  civil  development  of  Japan  made  the 
"  Land  of  Great  Peace  "  and  the  varied  peoples 
one.     Even   the   rude  feudalism  of  prehistoric 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  59 

time  was  "a  stage  of  progress,"  for  it  meant 
order  and  advance  in  agriculture  and  settled 
government  over  the  wild  tribal  life  of  the 
hunter  and  the  fisherman.  Naturally  this  prim- 
itive feudalism  melted  away  before  the  Chinese 
centralizing  methods,  which  were  introduced  in 
the  seventh  century.  As  the  military  system 
made  conquest,  a  uniform  system  of  taxation 
was  elaborated.  Departments  or  boards  of  gov- 
ernment were  organized  at  the  capital,  whence 
governors  appointed  by  the  emperor,  and  hold- 
ing office  for  three  years,  were  sent  out  to  the 
different  provinces. 

With  the  new  system  of  government  from 
one  centre  or  capital,  came  also  orders  of  nobil- 
ity, nine  in  number  with  two  degrees  to  each 
rank,  fixed  costumes,  and  a  rigid  code  of  court 
etiquette,  which  survives  in  many  of  its  features 
even  to  this  day.  There  are  no  people  in  the 
world  who  value  political  honors,  office,  decora- 
tions, and  government  uniform  more  than  the 
Japanese,  a  trait  which  tells  powerfully  upon 
private  and  national  character. 

A  Thousand  Years  of  Buddhism.  —  But  even 
greater  than  the  train  of  events  which  led  to 
political  development  was  the  entrance  of  Bud- 
dhism, for  it  proved  to  be  the  purveyor  of  art, 
education,  and  culture  throughout  the  empire. 
Although  the  particular  year  552  a.d.,  the  date 
of  the  introduction  of  images  and  sacred  books 
from  Korea,  is  properly  celebrated  as  a  single 
epoch-making  event,  yet  the  coming  of  the  Ind- 
ian  religion   must    be    viewed    rather   as    the 


60  DUX  CHBISTUS 

beginning  of  a  mighty  and  varied  stream  of 
influences  which  fertilized  and  transformed  the 
insular  mind.  It  opened  new  worlds  of  vision 
and  gave  the  Japanese  what  they  never  had 
before.  It  meant  a  thousand  years  of  continued 
action  and  reaction  between  Japan  and  China, 
the  passing  to  and  fro  between  the  archipelago 
and  the  mainland  of  students,  inquirers,  emi- 
grants, and  colonies,  seeking  and  bringing  cul- 
ture and  art,  and  of  the  introduction  of  schools 
of  painting  and  poetry,  besides  the  fairy  tales  of 
India  and  China.  History  gives  us  the  names 
of  many  of  the  men  and  women  who  brought 
seeds  for  the  soul  as  well  as  for  the  soil,  new 
books,  inventions,  costumes,  food  plants,  and 
things  of  beauty.  These  purveyors  of  the  civili- 
zations of  India  and  China  were  the  "  beginners 
of  a  better  time."  To  the  gardens,  both  of  man's 
mind  and  of  the  soil,  they  brought  seeds  and 
cultivated  the  flowers  until  was  ripened  the 
fruit  of  Japan's  unique  civilization,  which  no 
foreign  influences  will  ever  fully  destroy,  and 
which  is  yet  to  enrich  the  world.  Japan  needs 
no  other  civilization  than  her  own,  enlarged, 
purified,  consecrated,  by  its  being  brought 
through  the  Holy  Spirit  to  "  the  measure  of  the 
stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ." 

We  must  look  to  the  flrst  clash  of  Japan's 
Orientalism  with  the  forces  and  influences  from 
Europe  in  the  sixteenth  century. 

Japan  known  to  Europeans.  —  When  Columbus 
steered  his  caravels  into  the  unknown  West,  it 
was  with  the  expectation  of  finding  Xipango 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  61 

(Japan)  with  its  abundance  of  gold  and  precious 
gems.  He  reached,  not  the  American  conti- 
nent, but  the  West  Indies,  and  little  did  he  or 
any  one  else  in  Europe  know  the  terrible  state 
of  things  then  prevailing  in  Japan,  from  pro- 
longed civil  war,  resulting  from  the  break-up  of 
any  central  government  in  the  fifteenth  century. 
It  was  one  of  the  darkest  moments  in  Japan- 
ese liistory  when  the  Roman  missionaries  reached 
Japan.  The  structure  of  feudalism  had  fallen 
into  decay,  and  the  country  was  split  up  into  a 
thousand  warring  fragments.  The  priest  and 
the  soldier  were  the  only  people  who  were  well 
off.  While  the  former  ensconced  himself  in  a 
fortified  monastery  and  the  latter  in  a  moated 
and  turreted  castle,  both  preyed  upon  the  com- 
mon peoj)le,  who  were  little  better  tlian  serfs, 
while  many  thousands  of  them  were  genuine 
slaves.  The  maker  of  weapons  was  rich  and 
honored.  Famine,  pestilence,  and  the  destruc- 
tion wrought  by  earthquakes  abounded.  There 
was  little  real  religion  to  lift  up  and  cheer. 
Shinto  had  sunk  into  the  shadow  of  a  myth,  and 
Buddhism  had  become  a  national  system  of 
political  gambling,  rather  than  helpful  faith. 
Kioto,  the  capital,  had  been  repeatedly  attacked 
and  burned.  Libraries  and  books  had  been 
destroyed.  Japanese  pirates  ravaged  the  sea 
and  coasts.  The  woful  "  times  of  Ashikaga  " 
(1335-1573)  were  long  the  potter's  field  of 
chronology  for  the  native  novelists,  where  any- 
thing strange  or  incredible  might  reasonably 
be  supposed  to  have  happened. 


62  DUX  CHRIST  us 

Fifty  years  after  the  discovery  of  America, 
or  in  1542,  Japan  was  reached  by  three  Portu- 
guese on  a  Chinese  pirate  junk,  which  was 
driven  by  a  storm  to  Seed  Island  (Tanega- 
shima).  The  latter  word  is  now  the  synonym 
in  the  mouths  of  country  people  for  a  pistol, 
for  these  Europeans  first  showed  the  Japanese 
firearms.  During  the  six  months  that  they 
lived  on  the  island,  the  imitative  and  clever 
natives  are  said  to  have  made  six  hundred 
matchlock  guns.  Another  early  arrival  was 
Mendez  Pinto,  who  told  so  many  wonderful 
things  about  Japan  to  his  countrymen,  that 
they  dubbed  him  by  a  pun  on  his  name  Mendez, 
the  Mendacious  Pinto.  Hence  our  word  "  men- 
dacious." In  like  manner,  Marco  Polo,  because 
he  used  the  word  "  million  "  so  often,  had  been 
dubbed  "Sir  Millions";  yet  research  has  shown 
the  truth  of  what  Polo  and  Pinto  told  about 
the  Eastern  countries.  In  a  word,  the  Euro- 
peans, as  conceited  in  their  way  as  the  Japanese 
themselves,  could  not  at  first  believe  that  there 
was  any  civilization  beyond  their  own  continent. 

Trade  and  Roman  Christianity.  —  Trade  soon 
began  between  the  Portuguese  in  China  and  the 
Japanese.  One  of  the  latter,  named  Yajiro,  or 
Anjiro,  among  those  who  traded  in  India,  met 
Francis  Xavier  at  Malacca,  where  the  apostle  of 
the  Indies  was  laboring.  Anjiro  became  a  Chris- 
tian, and  with  the  heroic  missionary  Xavier 
sailed  to  Kagoshima,  the  capital  of  Satsuma, 
landing  in  1549.  Japan  had  then  no  central 
government,  and  the  entrance  of  the  foreigners, 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  63 

whether  traders  or  missionaries,  passed  un- 
noticed. Xavier,  using  interpreters,  began 
his  labors  immediately,  going  from  one  province 
to  another,  but  ever  longing  to  reach  Kioto, 
supposing  it  to  be  a  glorious  city  of  splendid 
palaces.  When  he  got  there,  he  found  only 
ruins,  rubbish,  unburied  corpses,  and  a  general 
situation  of  war  and  disturbance.  He  remained 
in  Japan  less  than  two  years  and  then  started 
for  China,  where  he  died  and  was  buried  on  the 
island  of  Sancian  in  the  Canton  River. 

Nevertheless,  Xavier's  shining  example  at- 
tracted scores  of  other  missionaries,  who  labored 
so  diligently  that  in  1581  there  were  two  hun- 
dred churches  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand native  Christians  so  called,  that  is,  Chris- 
tians with  a  little  knowledge  of  the  ceremonies 
and  catechism,  but  with  next  to  no  acquaintance 
with  the  Holy  Scriptures.  It  is  rarely,  if  ever, 
a  part  of  Roman  missionary  work  to  put  the 
Bible  into  the  tongue  of  the  people.  Yet  history 
shows  that  often  the  difference  between  a  dying 
and  a  living  Christianity  among  the  converts 
of  missionaries,  when  deprived  of  their  teachers, 
is  the  absence  or  the  presence  of  the  Word  of 
God  in  the  tongue  of  the  people.  Much  of  the 
so-called  "  conversion "  by  wholesale  was  ac- 
complished by  force,  as  is  told  not  only  in  the 
letters  of  the  Jesuits,  in  "The  Mikado's  Empire," 
and  other  works,  but  in  the  latest  work  of  re- 
search, Murdoch  and  Yamagata's  most  valuable 
"History  of  Japan." 

From  the  first  the  Portuguese  priests  owed 


64  DUX  CHBISTUS 

much  to  the  friendship  of  Nobunaga,  the  Mi- 
kado's junior  prime  minister.  This  astute  gen- 
eral and  politician  was  the  relentless  hater  of  the 
Buddhists.  He  made  it  the  work  of  his  life  to 
put  down  their  rising  power,  which  had  become 
a  great  military  and  political  force,  which  No- 
bunaga considered  a  menace  to  the  life  of  the 
nation.  Unfortunately  for  the  Jesuit  mission- 
aries, their  friend  at  court  was  assassinated  in 
1582. 

Two  of  the  feudal  barons  who  had  professed 
Christianity  determined  to  let  the  Pope  of  Rome 
see  some  of  the  first-fruits  of  the  work  in  Japan, 
and  in  1583  four  young  noblemen  were  de- 
spatched to  Europe  to  declare  themselves  vassals 
of  the  Holy  See.  They  were  absent  eight  years, 
and  some  of  their  gifts  are  still  in  the  Royal 
Museum  at  Madrid.  They  brought  back  with 
them  seventeen  more  Jesuit  fathers,  besides 
printing-presses  to  diffuse  literature  in  the 
Romanized  colloquial. 

The  High  Tide  of  Romanism. — Nevertheless, 
though  the  work  was  outwardly  flourishing, 
the  death  of  Nobunaga  marks  the  high  tide  of 
Roman  Christianity  in  Japan.  The  new  master 
of  the  country  was  Hideyoshi  (1536-1598), 
most  commonly  known  as  Taiko  Sama,  that  is 
the  Taiko,  or  retired  regent,  who  brought  peace 
to  the  country  by  subduing  groups  of  daimios, 
one  after  another.  Even  the  haughty  Satsuma 
clan  was  humbled  by  him,  through  the  medium 
and  aid  of  the  Buddhist  priest.  It  is  for  this 
reason  the  shaven  pates  were  ever  afterwards 


THE  MAKING    OF  THE  NATION  65 

execrated  in  Satsuma,  so  that  Buddhism  was 
long  practically  unknown  in  this  region,  which 
we  associate  with  pretty  crackle  and  decorated 
faience. 

Although  without  Scripture  and  teachers, 
amid  much  ignorance  and  darkness,  thousands 
of  poor  Japanese  held  to  their  love  for  Christ, 
worshipped  God  through  tlie  Virgin,  talked  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  strove  to  live  chaste  lives,  and 
be  pure  in  thought,  and  refused  to  worship  at  the 
pagan  shrines.  In  1859,  on  the  opening  of  the 
country  by  treaty,  the  Roman  Catholic  fathers 
at  Nagasaki  found,  to  their  surprise,  hundreds 
who  still  held  to  the  old  faith,  and  that  they 
were  reopening  the  old  mines,  and  that  their 
new  work  was  to  have  in  Japan  a  historic  con- 
tinuity, of  which  the  Protestant  missionaries 
could  not  boast.  Besides  the  animated  work 
of  Leon  Pages,  who  gives  also  a  bibliography 
of  the  old  and  new  European  works  on  Japan, 
one  may  read  with  profit  Casartelli's  twopenny 
pampldet,  j)ublished  in  London  in  1893,  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  work  of  the  former  and  latter 
centuries. 

It  must  be  remembered  tliat  Christianity 
came  to  Japan  in  the  sixteenth  century,  only 
in  its  papal  or  Roman  form.  Thus  it  was  not 
only  impure,  but  was  thorouglily  saturated  with 
the  false  principles,  the  brutal  vices,  and  the 
embodied  superstitions  of  corrupt  southern 
Europe.  It  Avas  military,  oppressive,  and 
political.  Yet,  bad  as  it  was,  it  confronted  the 
worst  condition  of  affairs,  morally,  intellectu- 


66  DUX  CHEI8TU8 

ally,  and  materially,  which  Japan  has  known 
in  historic  times.  The  Jesuits  in  their  fresh 
zeal  hoped  to  recoup  some  of  the  losses  of  the 
papal  corporation  in  Europe.  Theirs  was  the 
spirit  of  the  Inquisition.  They  entered  Japan 
with  the  animus  of  Alva  and  Philip  II.  They 
persuaded  the  feudal  lords  to  command  their 
serf -like  people  to  embrace  the  new  religion  on 
pain  of  exile  or  banishment.  The  Buddhist 
priests  were  exiled  or  killed,  and  fire  and 
sword,  as  well  as  preaching,  were  employed  as 
means  of  propagation  and  conversion.  Their 
own  writings  amply  testify  to  the  fictitious 
miracles  gotten  up  to  utilize  the  credulity  of  the 
superstitious  in  furthering  the  faith.  It  is  dif- 
ficult to  believe  that  these  men  did  not  try 
hard  to  bring  Japan  under  the  control  of  the 
Pope.  Those  who  cannot  study  the  native 
literature  would  do  well  to  read  Dixon's 
"Japan,"  and  Mr.  Murdoch's  recent  work,  of 
great  research  and  vigor,  to  make  up  their 
minds  on  this  subject. 

The  Wonderful  Sixteenth  Century.  —  The  six- 
teenth century  was  a  very  wonderful  one  for 
the  Japanese,  especially  the  last  half  of  it. 
Tired  of  the  long  civil  wars,  which  had  raged 
for  over  two  centuries,  they  were  ready  to  hail 
the  advent  of  men  of  national  mind,  who  could 
rise  above  local  interests  and  selfish  considera- 
tions. Europeans  first  landed  on  the  shores  of 
the  island  kingdom,  and  by  personal  experience 
and  narrative  made  Japan  known  to  the  Western 
nations.     The  Japanese  seemed  then  as  eager  to 


TUE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  67 

travel  and  see  the  world  as  in  our  own  twentieth 
centur}',  and  many  thousands  of  them  were 
abroad.  Roughly  speaking,  Roman  Christianity 
lasted  phenomenally  nearly  a  century,  or,  more 
exactly,  from  1542  to  1637.  During  this  time 
Japanese  embassies  or  missions  sailed  the  seas, 
not  only  of  Chinese  and  peninsular  Asia,  cir- 
cumnavigating Africa  and  thus  reaching  Eu- 
rope, but  also  crossed  the  Pacific  and  visited 
papal  Christendom  by  way  of  Mexico  and  the 
Atlantic  Ocean.  Hitherto  Japan  had  been 
heard  of  only  in  a  semi-mythical  way  through 
China,  from  the  vague  accounts  of  Marco  Polo, 
the  name  having  become  in  European  speech 
Xipango.  "  Japan  "  was  now  the  new  word. 
This  strange  curiosity  of  a  country  at  the  ends 
of  the  earth  was  found  to  be  tlie  same  that  Polo 
described.  Commerce  began  with  Europe, 
stimulating  also  the  mining,  coinage,  and  in- 
dustry of  Japan. 

The  languages  of  Europe  were  enriched  with 
Japanese  terms,  such  as  soy,  moza,  goban,  japan 
(lacquer  or  varnish),  etc.  The  tongue  of  Nip- 
pon also  received  an  infusion  of  new  terms,  anl 
a  notable  list  of  inventions  was  imported  from 
Europe,  so  tliat  to-day  one  recognizes  in  Jap- 
anese literature  and  speech  many  of  these  old 
Portuguese  and  Spanish  words,  and  later  the 
infusion  of  Dutch  terms.  It  is  odd,  while  in 
the  interior  of  Japan,  to  come  across  both 
local  lierbs  growing  on  the  mountain  slopes, 
where  missionaries  from  the  Iberian  peninsula 
once   lived,    and   survivals    of    words    on    the 


68  DUX  CHRISTUS 

tongue  of  the  people  which  recall  Southern 
Europe. 

Hideyoshi  (1536-1598)  unified  the  empire, 
and  in  the  same  year,  1592,  that  the  Spaniards 
entered  Japan,  he  sent  armies  of  invasion  into 
Korea,  in  order  to  keep  the  large  soldier  class 
busy.  He  died  in  1598.  The  armies  were 
recalled,  and  lyeyasu  (1542-1618),  whose  family 
name  was  Tokugawa,  the  last  of  "the  three 
great  men,"  became  the  virtual  ruler  of  the 
country.  His  crest  was  a  circle  containing 
three  mallow  or  asarum  leaves.  He  built  the 
city  of  Yedo,  and  there  established  the  line 
of  shoguns  (generals)  that  ruled  from  1604 
to  1868.  In  1614,  at  the  siege  of  Osaka  castle, 
Hideyori,  the  son  of  Hideyoshi,  and  his  fol- 
lowing were  overthrown,  and  lyeyasu  became 
virtual  ruler  of  the  empire,  with  his  seat  of 
authority  in  Yedo. 

The  New  Era  of  Peace  and  Seclusion.  —  Then 
began  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  Japan.  The 
foundation  lines  were  laid  for  a  new  social  and 
political  structure,  which  lasted  from  1600  to 
1868,  that  is,  the  distinctive  Japan,  of  which 
we  have  formed  our  ideas  and  around  which 
our  associations  cluster. 

In  arranging  the  new  foundations  of  social 
order,  lyeyasu  distributed  his  own  vassals 
around  the  city  of  Kioto,  so  that  no  hostile 
daimio  or  combination  could  seize  the  person 
of  the  emperor.  He  began  a  great  internal 
civilizing  process,  and  encouraged  the  revival 
of  learning,  while  he   also   scrutinized   closely 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  69 

the  new  force  from  papal  Europe  that  had 
entered  Japanese  life.  Naturally  he  followed 
his  predecessor  in  the  suspicion  that,  under 
cover  of  the  Western  i-eligion,  as  brought  by 
Portuguese  and  Spaniards,  there  lurked  politi- 
cal designs.  Indeed,  how  could  he  avoid  this 
train  of  reasoning  ?  Was  not  every  church 
in  Europe,  whether  Protestant,  Catholic,  or 
Russian,  a  state  church,  political  in  spirit  and 
intent,  oppressing  all  dissenters?  In  that  age, 
any  man,  however  good  a  Christian,  if  he  were 
outside  of  the  state  church,  was  looked  upon 
as  little  better  than  an  anarchist.  Any  states- 
man who  then  laid  down  the  principle,  now  so 
common  (even  in  Japan),  that  the  magistrate 
had  no  right  to  meddle  with  the  conscience, 
was  too  far  in  advance  of  his  age  to  be  under- 
stood, or  regarded  with  patience. 

In  1606,  lyeyasu  issued  his  edict  prohibiting 
Christianity.  Yet,  while  the  native  Christians 
were  roughly  handled  in  the  south,  there  was 
considerable  missionary  activity  with  success 
in  the  north.  By  this  time  the  Dutch  and  Eng- 
lish had  reached  Japan  and  told  some  unpleasant 
facts  about  Alva  and  the  Netherlands,  the  In- 
quisition and  the  Pope,  and  tlie  ways  of  the 
Spaniards  and  tlie  Portuguese.  lyeyasu  thus 
obtaining  new  light,  yet  not  desiring  to  shed 
blood,  had  the  various  sectarians  of  the  Roman 
Church,  Franciscans,  Dominicans,  Augustines, 
and  Jesuits,  with  hundreds  of  native  priests 
and  catechists,  shipped  away  from  Nagasaki  to 
Macao  in  China.      Yet  after   the   storm   blew 


70  DUX  CHRI8TU8    ' 

over,  many  of  them  came  back  secretly.  Then 
the  edicts  were  carried  out  more  rigorously,  the 
church  edifices  demolished,  temples  and  pagodas 
erected  upon  the  ruins,  and  under  lyeyasu's 
son  and  successor  in  Yedo  the  books  of  the 
Inferno  were  opened.  This  time  the  "  Holy 
Inquisition  "  was  Japanese,  and  to  their  own 
awful  methods  of  torture  they  added  new  fea- 
tures from  the  Spanish  torture  chambers.  Some 
of  these  were  long  retained  in  Japanese  prisons, 
as  I  have  seen.  Even  the  Eurasian  or  half- 
breed  children  were  deported  from  the  empire. 
Japanese  Christianity,  having  been  banished  in 
blood,  was  supposed  to  have  no  existence,  and 
Mr.  Lecky  mistakenly  wrote  in  his  "  History  of 
Rationalism,"  "persecution  extirpated  Christian- 
ity in  Japan."  The  country  was  shut  up  from 
all  foreign  intercourse,  and  in  progress  of  years 
this  policy  of  exclusion  and  inclusion  became 
more  and  more  vigorous.  Only  on  the  island 
of  Deshima  in  front  of  the  city  of  Nagasaki 
were  a  dozen  Hollanders  allowed  to  live,  their 
ships  coming  and  going  once  a  year. 

Two  Centuries  of  Dutch  Influence.  —  It  is  popu- 
larly supposed  that  for  over  two  centuries  and 
until  Perry's  treaty  ships  arrived  in  1853,  Japan 
was  absolutely  shut  off  from  all  influences  from 
Christendom,  even  as  much  so  as  Thornrose 
Castle  in  the  Teutonic  fairy  tale.  No  mistake 
could  be  greater.  Besides  having  gained  many 
ideas  and  inventions  through  foreign  commerce 
from  the  Portuguese,  Dutch,  and  Spaniards, 
the  minds  of  her  inquiring  men  were  steadily 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  71 

fertilized  by  tlie  Dutchmen.  "Deshima  was 
well  and  prophetically  named,  signifying  Fore 
Island  —  Japan's  window  through  which  she 
looked  at  tlie  whole  Occident,"  during  two 
centuries  of  peace.  Japan  was  never  wholly  a 
"  hermit  nation,"  in  the  sense  of  being  left  with- 
out any  creative  influences  from  the  outside 
world.  We  must  not  suppose  that  Japan  was 
"  hermetically  sealed,"  or  that  she  owed  nothing 
to  Europe  during  her  period  of  peace  and  seclu- 
sion. As  a  matter  of  fact,  seeds  for  the  ground 
and  for  the  mind,  books,  inventions,  medical, 
linguistic,  and  scientific  truths  were  continually 
dripping  from  Europe  through  the  Hollanders' 
siphon,  upon  the  so-called  hermit  nation.  De- 
shima,  looked  at  sideways,  is  shaped  like  a 
funnel,  and  the  Dutch  settlement  was  the  means 
through  which,  for  two  centuries,  light  and 
knowledge  were  poured  into  this  secluded 
country.  By  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, there  were  scattered  all  over  the  country 
men  in  whose  minds  Chinese  learning  had  been 
discredited,  and  in  which  the  Dutch  leaven  wf»s 
working.  Nine  years  before  Commodore 
Perry's  flag  reflected  the  stars  and  stripes  in 
Yedo  Bay,  the  Dutch  king,  William  II,  sent 
friendly  war-ships  in  time  of  peace,  bearing  the 
olive  branch  and  urging  the  Japanese  to  open 
their  country  to  the  friendship  and  commerce 
of  the  world.  Thus  the  way  was  prepared  and 
made  easy  for  the  Americans.  It  was  the  Hol- 
landers' knowledge  of  the  country  which  facili- 
tated   Commodore  Perry's  procedure.     It  was 


72  DUX  CHEISTUS 

their  charts,  made  in  Holland,  by  which  the 
American  ships  sailed.  Through  Dutch  inter- 
preters, trained  at  Nagasaki,  Commodore  Perry 
and  the  diplomatists  from  Europe  were  able  to 
talk  with  the  Japanese  hermits.  It  was  the 
native  "Dutch  scholars"  who  in  1853  wanted 
their  country  opened  to  the  world.  The  Dutch 
prepared  the  way,  by  earnest  warnings  in  Yedo, 
for  Townsend  Harris,  first  envoy  of  the  United 
States  in  Japan,  and  his  Dutch  secretary,  Mr. 
Huesken,  who  interpreted  for  all  the  early 
embassies  and  legations.  The  first  native 
Christians,  made  so  through  reading  the  Bible, 
were  helped  and  encouraged  by  the  Hollanders 
at  Deshima.  Until  near  the  dawn  of  the  twen- 
tieth century,  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the 
liberal-minded  officers  of  the  government,  en- 
gineers, naval  officers,  physicians,  preachers, 
evangelists,  and  Christian  laymen  of  light  and 
leading,  dated  their  awakening  intellectually  to 
contact  with  the  Dutchmen,  or  knowledge  of 
what  the  men  of  Deshima  had  imparted,  either 
personally,  or  through  relatives  or  ancestors. 
Without  the  Dutchmen  living  in  the  country, 
it  is  more  than  probable  that  there  would  have 
been  no  modern  Japan  as  we  know  it  to-day. 
Their  work  and  influence  were  not  the  least  in 
the  chain  of  providential  influences  which  in- 
troduced to  the  delight  and  surprise  of  nations 
this  "  child  of  the  world's  old  age,"  this  pupil 
of  the  English-speaking  nations.  In  a  word, 
there  has  not  been  a  year  since  1542  that  Japan 
has  not  been  indebted  to  Western  nations  for 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  73 

ideas  and  culture.  This  chapter  of  the  un- 
written history  of  two  centuries  helps  not  only 
to  explain  much  of  Japan's  supposed  sudden 
development,  but  to  throw  light  on  the  passage 
penned  by  the  veteran  Dr.  D.  C.  Greene,  in 
1903,  in  the  pamphlet,  "A  Third  of  a  Cen- 
tury of  Service  in  Japan,"  "  In  some  way,  we 
know  not  how,  a  foundation  had  been  laid  [be- 
fore 1870]  and  ...  a  church  was  to  rise  to 
the  glory  of  our  Lord." 

The  Peaceful  Armada.  —  During  the  eigh- 
teenth and  nineteenth  centuries,  various  attempts 
had  been  made  by  the  Russians,  English,  French, 
and  Americans  to  open  trade,  to  return  ship- 
wrecked Japanese  or  ocean  waifs,  or,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Dutch,  to  persuade  the  Yedo  gov- 
ernment to  be  more  sociable,  or  more  human ; 
but  all  were  in  vain,  until  the  peaceful  armada 
sent  by  the  United  States  in  1853  broke  the 
long  seclusion  of  this  Thornrose  Castle  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  At  a  time  of  Japan's  sorest 
spiritual,  moral,  and  economic  need,  it  pleased 
divine  Providence  to  bring  to  Japan  the  influ- 
ences of  the  West,  as  represented  in  the  Ameri- 
can squadron,  which  bore  gifts  showing  the  era 
of  science  and  industry  and  making  revelation 
of  tlie  Christian  civilization  of  Europe  and 
Anieri(;a.  The  United  States  fleet  of  ships  and 
of  men,  litly  commanded,  had  no  superior  in  the 
world  for  discipline,  power  of  aggression,  abreast- 
ness  with  the  equipment  of  the  times,  for  war 
or  peace,  or  in  general  morale.  Commodore 
Matthew  Calbraith  Perry  was  a  typical  Ameri- 


74  DUX  CIIEISTU8 

can  naval  officer  and  a  man  of  science.  As  his 
biography  amply  shows,  he  had  had  uncommon 
experiences  in  diplomacy  in  Africa,  Mexico, 
Europe,  and  British  America.  Above  all,  he 
knew  human  nature  to  its  depths,  both  Oriental 
and  Occidental.  He  was  a  constant  reader  of 
the  Bible  and  a  devout  worshipper.  He  be- 
lieved that  the  Japanese  people  suffered  from  a 
bad  system,  and  that,  instead  of  being  real  haters 
of  foreigners,  they  would  respond  to  good  influ- 
ences, and,  when  the  right  objects  were  pre- 
sented, would  appreciate  Western  civilization. 
Perry,  before  sailing,  spent  some  months  and 
gave  unusual  care  to  selecting  presents  of  a  use- 
ful and  scientific  nature,  which  would  best  illus- 
trate the  resources  of  the  United  States  and 
show  that  the  Americans  were  more  fond  of 
peace  and  enterprise  than  they  were  of  war  ; 
or,  in  the  words  of  Daniel  Webster,  that  "  our 
object  is  friendly  intercourse  and  nothing  more." 
Divine  Providence  ordained  that  in  the  far 
West  and  in  the  far  East,  two  great  forces, 
"heirs  of  all  the  ages,"  should  move  toward 
each  other,  not  to  collision,  but  for  a  new  result- 
ant of  forces  in  the  world.  On  the  day  that 
Perry  received  his  orders  to  sail  to  Japan,  the 
present  emperor,  Mutsuhito,  was  born. 

So  the  ships  sailed.  They  were  loaded,  apart 
from  their  usual  war  equipment  of  food  for  men 
and  cannon,  with  the  new  forces  of  Occidental 
civilization  —  telegraph,  railway,  locomotive, 
electric  apparatus  ;  ploughs,  sewing  machines, 
dictionaries,  lamps,  locks  ;  and  whatever,  being 


THE  MAKING    OF  THE  NATION  75 

portable,  illustrated  the  world's  progress  and 
the  American  spirit  and  purpose.  Even  whiskey 
and  cordials  were  not  left  out.  "  With  the  sons 
of  God,''  though  in  the  majority,  "  came  Satan 
also."  The  squadron  entered  the  bay  of  Yedo 
and  cast  anchor  July  7,  1853.  In  due  time 
and  with  appropriate  ceremonies  Perry  delivered 
the  President's  letters  at  the  village  of  Kuri- 
hama,  where  are  now  Perry  Park  and  the  me- 
morial monolith  reared  in  1900  by  the  grateful 
Japanese. 

Christian  and  Confucian  Morals.  —  Much  of 
the  conference  between  the  commodore  and  the 
Tycoon's  commissioner,  Professor  Hayashi  of 
the  Chinese  College  in  Yedo,  was  about  human- 
ity and  the  treatment  by  the  political  hermits 
of  shipwrecked  aliens.  It  was  j^ractical  Chris- 
tianity atilt  with  Confucianism,  and  the  claim 
was  urged  that  ethics  are  more  than  politics. 
The  system  that  killed  or  imprisoned  and  tor- 
tured men  for  their  belief  and  opinions  was 
here  set  to  defend  itself  against  the  free  con- 
science of  a  republic  in  which  church  and  statr 
were  separate.  The  principles  of  William  the 
Silent,  of  William  III  of  glorious  memory,  and 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  pre- 
vailed, and  the  Japanese  have  since  proved 
themselves  apt  pupils.  Yet  in  the  Japan  of  the 
era  of  Meiji  (1868  -f-)  the  political  struggle 
has  been  between  the  models  of  government 
furnished  by  Prussia,  and  that  exemplified  by 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States. 

Meanwhile    the    Japanese   awoke.       Schools 


76  DUX  CHRISTUS 

were  opened  "  for  the  examination  of  barbarian 
books "  and  the  study  of  Dutch  and  English, 
as  well  as  for  military  and  naval  tactics.  Raw 
recruits  were  drilled,  foundries  sprang  up,  and 
the  belfries  were  emptied  for  the  furnishing 
of  the  arsenal.  From  worship  to  war  was  now 
the  call.  To  the  average  native,  suspicious  by 
nature,  and  especially  to  the  foreigner  hater, 
treaty  "  concession  "  meant  conquest,  and  the 
alien's  residence  to  him  meant  a  garrison. 

Even  greater  than  the  works  of  the  naval 
officer.  Perry,  in  1852  and  1853,  were  the 
diplomatic  labors,  crowned  with  triumphant 
success,  of  the  civilian,  Townsend  Harris,  from 
1855  to  1860.  He  was  the  first  great  educator 
of  Japan  and  her  statesmen.  A  graphic  picture 
of  his  activity  and  the  difficulties  surmounted 
by  him  is  seen  in  his  published  journals.  Un- 
armed and  with  the  weapon  of  truth  alone, 
against  the  falsehoods  of  agents  of  a  govern- 
ment itself  built  on  falsehood,  Harris  secured 
a  treaty  which  in  1859  opened  the  empire  to 
trade,  to  the  residence  of  the  merchants,  and 
to  the  activities  of  the  missionaries  and  the 
teachers  of  the  world.  Happily  for  Great  Brit- 
ain, in  Lord  Elgin,  in  Sir  Rutherford  Alcock, 
and  in  Sir  Harry  Parkes  and  their  successors 
in  Tokio,  she  has  had  fitting  and  impressive 
representatives  of  her  diplomacy  and  civiliza- 
tion. 

Internal  Political  Commotions.  —  While  out- 
wardly, on  the  Japanese  side,  this  whole  ques- 
tion was  political,  even  that  of   welcoming  or 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  77 

driving  away  foreigners,  and  was  identified 
respectively  with  the  imperialist  and  the  sho- 
gunal  parties,  the  real  issue  was  whether  Asiatic 
tradition  or  Christian  civilization  should  tri- 
umph. It  was  whether  Japan  should  remain 
Oriental  and  die,  or  join  the  world's  brother- 
hood and  live.  The  new  treaty  port,  Yoko- 
hama, the  "  Strand  Across "  the  bay  from 
Kanagawa  on  Tokaido,  or  the  main  road  be- 
tween Kioto  and  Yedo,  shot  up  out  of  the 
swamps  like  a  city  built  in  a  night.  The  day 
of  widespread  famines  was  over.  "  There 
shall  be  no  more  curse  "  might  have  been  the 
prophecy.  Yet  the  first  overlapping  of  the 
selvages  of  the  two  civilizations  was  not  a 
winsome  spectacle.  The  licentiousness  of  the 
first  visitors  from  the  ships  and  the  terrific 
greed  and  covetousness  of  the  traders  outraged 
the  native  sense  of  propriety.  On  the  other 
liand,  the  horribly  obscene  orgies  in  the  religious 
festivals,  or  matsuris,  and  the  display  of  por- 
nograpliic  pictures  and  phallic  emblems  in  the 
temple  processions,  surprised  even  those  famil- 
iar with  India  and  the  Pacific  islanders.  The 
frightful  immorality  of  paganism  in  ante-mis- 
sionary days  is  nearly  incredible,  and  this,  hav- 
ing seen  it,  we  maintain  in  spite  of  what  writers 
may  say  who  picture  primitive  Japan  as  a  gar- 
den of  Eden. 

The  fifteen  years  from  1853  to  18G8  were 
terrible  years  of  political  commotion.  Yet  there 
were  some  far-seeing  men  who  read  aright  the 
signs    of    the   times.     Matsudaira,    the    feudal 


78  DUX  CHRISTU8 

lord  of  Echizen,  had  made  his  own  city  of 
Fukui  a  model  of  decent  government.  He 
was  backed  by  his  teacher  of  ethics,  the  re- 
former Yokoi,  who,  having  a  copy  of  the  Bible 
in  Chinese,  taught  Christian  doctrine  in  the 
guise  of  lectures  on  Confucianism.  Yokoi  pre- 
dicted that  the  bright  young  men  of  the  country 
would  accept  Christianity.  Echizen,  summoned 
by  the  Shogun  to  reform  Yedo  and  its  rulers, 
at  once  released  the  daimios  from  the  old  cus- 
tom of  leaving  their  wives  and  children  as 
hostages  in  Yedo,  when  visiting  their  own 
dominions.  The  barons  now  joyfully  gathered 
in  Kioto,  which  became  the  centre  of  national 
interests. 

Gradual  Enlightenment.  —  Gradually  there 
came  enlightenment  to  these  insular  hermits. 
The  people  in  darkness  saw  a  great  light. 
Fukuzawa  and  Nakamura  were  among  the  first 
scholars  to  read  and  translate  from  the  language 
of  Milton.  The  latter  made  a  bold  and  power- 
ful plea,  in  a  scholarly  memorial,  for  the  tolera- 
tion of  Christianity  in  Japan.  The  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  Smiles'  "Self-Help,"  and 
"  Mill  on  Liberty "  were  among  the  first  books 
put  into  Japanese.  Peter  Parley's  histories 
formed,  too  often,  the  style  of  the  first  writers 
of  English.  An  embassy  was  sent  abroad  in 
1864  to  have  the  ports  closed  which  the  treaty 
had  promised  to  open,  but  these  hermits  in  the 
market-place  were  astounded  to  find,  as  they 
afterwards  reported,  "  it  was  not  the  foreigners, 
but  we  ourselves,  that   are  barbarians."      Yet 


THE  MAKING    OF  TUE  NATION  79 

more  light  dawned.  "  The  frogs  in  the  well " 
liad  seen  "  the  great  ocean."  Their  own  prov- 
erbs, the  growth  of  a  thousand  years  of  insular 
experience,  became  the  mirrors  which  made  the 
proud  and  learned  recluses  see  themselves  as 
they  were,  and  reflected  to  the  ends  of  the 
empire  the  truth  to  the  common  people. 

Furthermore,  the  daimios  and  gentry,  as  they 
met  foreigners  in  personal  intercourse,  and  es- 
pecially as  they  had  heart  to  heart  talks  with 
the  missionaries,  found  that  the  "  hairy  foreign- 
ers," even  though  they  had  "blue  eyes  like 
pigs,"  instead  of  being  wild  beasts,  were  gen- 
tlemen. By  inquiry  they  also  learned  the  dif- 
ference between  the  political  Romanism  of  the 
sixteenth  century  and  the  free  Christian  states 
and  churclies  of  the  nineteenth  century.  They 
discerned  between  the  drunken,  lustful,  and 
cruel  mixed  multitude  from  the  ships,  whether 
tourist,  trader,  or  mariner,  and  the  settled 
people  with  families  who  made  homes,  dealt 
honestly,  and  adorned  the  character  of  merchant 
or  teacher.  It  was  even  found,  after  the  first 
seeing  of  "  men  as  trees  walking,"  that  some 
sailors  and  ship  officers  were  gentlemen,  the 
same,  in  purity  of  life,  abroad  as  at  home. 

Mr.  R.  II.  Pruyn,  the  American  envoy,  had 
long  urged  the  sanction  of  the  Mikado  to  the 
treaties,  and  negotiations  were  begun  at  Osaka 
with  the  court  in  Kioto.  They  were  crowned 
with  success.  The  old  Mikado  Komei  died, 
January  30,  1868,  and  the  young  Mikado 
Mutsuhito,  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-third 


80  DUX  CHRI8TU8 

in  the  line,  ascended  the  throne  at  such  a  time 
and  signed  the  treaties.  This  act  of  the  em- 
peror, in  affixing  his  signature,  was  the  death- 
blow to  the  hopes  of  the  foreigner  haters,  and 
as  in  Japan,  when  the  emperor  nods,  millions 
of  his  people  bow,  the  mind  of  the  nation  was 
profoundly  changed.  Born  amid  new  ideas  and 
influences,  Mutsuhito,  who  had  had  his  baptism 
of  war  in  the  sound  and  flash  of  cannon,  in  Kioto, 
came  to  the  kingdom  with  open  mind  and  heart 
for  new  things.  He  took  his  seat  on  the  throne 
of  a  dynasty  "unbroken  from  ages  eternal," 
alert  and  ready  for  reform.  Here  was  the 
golden  opportunity  for  the  progressists. 

The  Charter  Oath.  —  In  the  shifting  game  of 
politics,  the  combined  troops  of  Satsuma,  Echi- 
zen,  and  others  got  possession  of  the  imperial 
palace  and  person,  and  on  January  3,  1868, 
promulgated  a  new  government  and  new  laws. 
Taking  the  boy  emperor  into  the  great  castle 
of  Nijo  in  Kioto,  long  the  seat  of  the  garrisons 
and  overawing  power  and  influences  of  the  Yedo 
Shogun,  whence  the  military  had  so  long  domi- 
nated the  civil  power,  they  then  and  there  put 
the  oath  (written  by  an  Echizen  man)  into  his 
mouth,  in  which  he  swore,  before  all  the  gods 
of  heaven  and  earth,  to  seek  for  knowledge 
throughout  the  whole  world  in  order  to  "  rebuild 
the  empire  according  to  the  right  way  between 
heaven  and  earth."  Dramatic  and  impressive 
was  the  scene,  —  in  a  sense  like  the  proclamation 
of  the  German  Empire  in  the  palaces  of  the 
French   Versailles.     Here   was   the   beginning 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  81 

of  the  real  New  Japan.  It  was  inaugurated 
under  imperial  auspices  in  the  Nijo  castle  —  the 
stronghold  of  the  old  reactionary  Yedo  govern- 
ment. It  meant  the  subordination  of  the  mili- 
tary to  the  civil  power,  and  the  reform  of  the 
abuses  of  seven  hundred  years. 

This  charter  oath,  in  five  clauses,  declared 
that  government  should  hereafter  be  according 
to  public  opinion,  that  the  justice  and  impartial- 
ity manifested  in  the  workings  of  Heaven  should 
be  shown  in  all  appointments  to  office,  and  that 
men  of  talent  and  expertness  in  all  the  lines  of 
human  achievement  should  be  sought  for  in 
various  countries  of  the  world  to  reestablish 
the  foundations  of  the  empire.  This  "  Word 
of  the  Oatli "  was  the  signal  for  the  summoning 
of  that  great  army  of  foreign  yatoi  (hired) 
teacliers,  engineers,  physicians,  military  in- 
structors, and  advisers  in  all  departments, 
numbering  probably  three  thousand  in  all,  who 
for  a  generation  or  more  helped  the  Japanese 
in  the  new  ways  of  civilization,  until  natives 
were  able  to  give  instruction  in  their  owji 
schools,  build  and  man  their  own  ships,  create 
and  lead  their  own  armies,  manage  their  own 
financial,  industrial,  postal,  and  railway  systems, 
and  to  teach  what  and  as  they  saw  fit.  It  is 
but  little  to  the  credit  of  so  many  natives  that 
they  persistently  ignore  the  services  of  the 
yatoi  when  writing  Japanese  modern  liistory. 

The  Emperor  and  Empress  in  Tokio.  —  Matsu- 
daira,  the  lord  of  Echizen,  led  the  procession 
by  engaging,  through  Dr.   Verbeck,  a  faculty 


82  DUX  CHRISTUS 

of  four  experts,  to  assist  in  laying  the  foun- 
dations of  national  education  in  Japan,  which 
was  planned  by  Dr.  Verbeck  and  carried  out 
by  Dr.  David  Murray,  the  cultivated  author  of 
"The  Story  of  Japan."  The  writer  was  the 
first  one  called  out  under  this  imperial  oath 
from  a  foreign  country.  His  call  from  the  men 
of  Fukui,  scene  of  Yokoi's  labors,  was  to  organ- 
ize schools  on  the  American  principle.  "  The 
Educational  Conquest  of  the  Far  East"  is  a 
fascinating  story,  and  has  been  outlined  by  Mr. 
R.  E.  Lewis. 

With  the  decisive  three  days'  battle  of  Fu- 
shimi,  January  27-30,  1868,  near  Kioto,  which 
was  won  by  the  imperialists,  two  years  of  civil 
war  broke  out.  The  Mikado  was  taken  to 
ancient  Naniwa,  the  city  of  "flowery  waves," 
called  in  modern  days  Osaka,  to  review  his 
war-ships.  He  saw  the  sea  for  the  first  time. 
In  these  days  of  democratic  greeting,  of  hurrah 
and  "  Banzai "  (ten  thousand  generations,  or 
"live  forever"),  it  is  remembered  that  etiquette 
then  (in  1886)  required  the  sovereign  to  turn 
his  back  on  his  sailors  when  he  left  them,  while 
they  got  down  on  their  hands  and  knees.  Now, 
in  this  twentieth  century,  they  stand,  and  their 
faces  glow  with  affection.  Soon  the  boy  emperor 
was  brought  out  of  seclusion  and  mystery,  and 
his  feet  set  on  the  solid  earth.  The  kio,  or  capital, 
was  removed  east  to  Yedo,  which  was  named 
Tokio,  or  eastern  capital,  and  properly  so  spelled. 
The  emperor  returned  for  a  few  days  to  the  old 
sacred  city  to  marry  Haruko,  the  daughter  of 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  83 

Ichijo,  a  court  noble.  She  has  since  served  not 
only  as  faithful  wife  and  most  gracious  sovereign 
lady,  but  is  known  as  the  constant  friend  of 
the  sick,  the  poor,  and  the  unfortunate,  the 
patron  of  the  Red  Cross  society,  and  the  bene- 
factor of  hospitals.  It  was  a  mighty  change  of 
status,  when  from  being,  according  to  immemo- 
rial custom,  simply  a  lady  of  the  court,  gazetted 
to  be  the  wife,  or  chief  female  of  the  Inner 
Apartment,  to  the  Emperor,  but  in  no  sense 
personal,  social,  official,  an  empress,  or  imperial 
according  to  Western  ideas,  she  has  become  in  a 
true  sense  the  Empress  Haruko.  Now  she  rides 
and  sits  with  her  husband,  and  is  awarded  dig- 
nities and  honors  unknown  to  her  predecessors 
in  ancient  days. 

The  Foreign  Helpers  at  Work.  —  The  "  char- 
ter oath  "  of  1868  was  a  Macedonian  cry  to  the 
civilized  world,  which  is  Christendom,  and  to 
men  of  skill  and  force  in  many  lands  to  come 
over  and  help.  From  America  and  Europe, 
these  men  went  out  in  the  day  of  their  strength 
to  assist  the  Japanese  to  rebuild  the  foundations 
of  the  empire,  by  applying  the  ideas,  principles, 
forces,  inventions,  and  machinery  of  the  modern 
world.  Japan's  helpers  and  servants  from 
among  the  four  peoples  in  the  British  Isles 
were  led  out  by  the  British  envoy,  Sir  Ruther- 
ford Alcock,  author  of  that  charming  work 
"  Tlie  Capital  of  the  Tycoon,"  and  these  at  first 
were  instructors  in  naval  science.  Under  Sir 
Harry  Parkes,  who  early  discovered  in  the  light 
of  history  the  legality  of  the  new  Mikado's  gov- 


84  DUX  CHBISTUS 

ernment,  hundreds  of  expert  men  came  out  to 
build  railways,  lighthouses,  the  mint,  engineer- 
ing colleges,  and  to  serve  nobly.  It  was  a  case 
of  taking  off  the  coat.  Dixon,  in  his  "  Land  of 
the  Morning,"  pictures  the  teacher's  life  in 
Tokio,  as  Maclay,  in  his  "  Letters  from  Japan," 
shows  it  in  the  interior,  while  Holtham,  in  his 
"  Eight  Years  in  Japan,"  and  Morris,  in  his  "Ad- 
vance Japan,"  picture  the  engineer's  work  and 
life.  The  British  were  the  first  political  and 
financial  friends  of  new  Japan,  sending  her  rail- 
way builders,  her  sailors  and  organizers  of  the 
navy,  her  makers  of  ships,  and  directors  of  ship- 
yards, and  her  men  of  expert  brain  and  hand  in 
various  departments.  Besides  the  invaluable 
researches  in  history,  language,  and  literature, 
English-speaking  men  created  and  have  main- 
tained the  Asiatic  Society  of  Japan,  whose 
Transactions  outweigh,  in  real  value,  hundreds 
of  tourists'  books  on  Japan.  From  Holland, 
which  had  trained  Japan's  first  physicians,  stu- 
dents, naval  officers,  and  navigators,  came  the 
engineers  and  men  of  science,  for  the  Dutch 
had  been  for  over  two  centuries  the  one  lan- 
guage, the  first  gateway  of  learning,  and  the 
single  link  of  communication  with  the  Western 
world.  From  Germany,  which  furnished  the 
new  tongue  and  methods  of  advanced  medical 
science,  came  the  shining  exponents  of  the  heal- 
ing art  and  skill,  besides  diligent  teachers  and 
openers  of  the  mines  of  knowledge  in  lore,  his- 
tory, classified  knowledge,  forming  the  German 
Asiatic  Society,  which  has  so  widened  our  view 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  85 

of  Japan.  The  French  initiated  military  organ- 
ization and  the  improvement  of  the  silk  indus- 
try, and  introduced  things  of  refinement  and 
taste.  The  Swiss,  the  Scandinavians,  the 
Italians,  each  brought  in  their  gift-laden  hands 
some  new  benefit  to  the  Japanese.  In  all  these 
languages  is  a  rich  literature  of  description  and 
experience  concerning  modern  Japan.  The 
talents  and  specialties  of  each  nation  were 
drawn  upon,  but  perhaps  more  numerously  than 
all  came  the  Americans  as  teachers,  instructors, 
and  advisers  in  many  lines  of  usefulness,  mis- 
sionaries, physicians,  financiers,  practical  men 
in  every  department.  The  host,  beginning  per- 
haps with  Raphael  Pumpelly,  author  of  "  Across 
America  and  Asia,"  still  has  a  few  representa- 
tives, even  in  this  day  of  the  return  of  the  edu- 
cated Japanese  from  the  schools  of  Europe  and 
America.  The  first  schools  for  girls  under  the 
auspices  of  the  government,  taught  by  Miss  M. 
C.  Griihs  and  Mrs.  P.  Veeder,  in  1873,  have 
been  served  by  women  of  ability,  even  to  this  day 
of  the  Peeresses'  School  and  the  Women's  Uni- 
versity in  Tokio,  among  whom  is  Miss  A.  M. 
Bacon,  author  of  "  Japanese  Girls  and  Women  " 
and  "A  Japanese  Interior."  All  together  the 
helpers  from  the  United  States  have  furnished 
an  array  of  talent  and  ability,  with  not  a  few 
sliining  lights,  that  pale  not  even  in  the  pres- 
ence of  Europe's  ablest  representatives  ;  while  a 
goodly  number  have  shown  themselves  richest 
in  those  elements  characteristic  of  the  Christ, 
altruism,  unselfishness,  and  consecration.     Some 


86  DUX  CBBISTUS 

of  them,  notably  Colonel  Clark,  from  Amherst, 
Massachusetts,  were  active  as  evangelists  and 
led  scores  of  young  men  to  acknowledge  and 
follow  DUX  CHRiSTUS.  In  "The  Diary  of  a 
Japanese  Convert,"  by  Mr.  Uchimura,  in  the 
life  of  Rev.  Paul  Sawayama,  and  in  Mr.  Shi- 
gemi's  "  A  Japanese  Boy,"  we  have  pictures  of 
Christian  life  as  awakened  in  the  first  instance 
by  foreign  teachers.  In  Mr.  E.  W.  Clark's 
"  Life  and  Adventures  in  Japan,"  are  more  pic- 
tures of  the  daily  work  of  educators  and  their 
influence  as  Christians  upon  their  pupils.  The 
latest  presentation  of  similar  experiences  is  by 
Dr.  Scherer  in  his  "  Japan  To-day."  Perhaps 
the  number  of  these  beginners  of  a  better  time, 
living  and  dead,  and  including  the  missionaries 
of  religion,  who  came  from  Japan's  nearest 
eastern  neighbor,  the  young  republic,  does  not 
fall  far  short  of  two  thousand ;  while  the  total 
army  of  Japan's  helpers  from  all  Christendom, 
since  the  year  1868,  —  the  first  of  the  Meiji  era, 
—  must  number,  living  and  dead,  about  four, 
possibly  five,  thousand. 

The  New  Nation.  —  During  the  seclusion  of 
the  Japanese  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  Con- 
fucianism was  diligently  cultivated  on  its  intel- 
lectual side,  and  was  the  living  ethical  force  in 
the  nation;  while  Buddhism,  drunk  with  worldly 
wealth  and  power,  hardened  upon  tradition  and 
continued  in  a  state  of  stagnation  and  decay. 
Meanwhile,  Christianity,  outwardly  banned  and 
under  rigid  persecution,  had  rivulets  of  subter- 
ranean life,  flowing  both  among  the  southern 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  87 

peasantry  in  Kiushiu,  who  held  secretly  but 
tenaciously  to  the  Roman  tradition,  and  in  the 
heart  and  minds  of  a  few,  very  few,  scholarly 
samurai  seekers  after,  God,  who,  through  the 
Dutch  or  Chinese  languages,  studied  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  Feudalism  furnished  the  frame- 
work in  which  Confucianism  grew,  the  trellis 
on  which  the  flourishing  vine  bore  fruit. 
While  this  Chinese  system  aided  man  in  the 
cultivation  of  his  intellect,  it  distinctly  lowered 
the  position  of  woman  and  stunted  her  growth, 
intellectually,  socially,  and  morally,  just  as 
surely  as  in  China  abominable  custom  bound 
her  feet.  So  long  as  feudalism  flourished  in 
Japan,  so  long,  and  only  so  long,  might  the 
exotic  from  China  grow  and  send  out  its 
boughs.  To  unify  the  empire  on  modern 
principles  and  to  borrow  the  forms  and  spirit 
of  the  West  was  to  deal  a  mortal  blow  at  the 
Confucian  system. 

All  this  was  quickly  made  clear.  No  sooner 
had  the  Dutch  students,  the  pupils  of  Verbeck, 
the  strenuous  Mikado  reverencers,  the  Shinto 
scholars  and  reformers,  the  exemplars  of  bushido, 
the  advocates  of  foreign  trade,  and  the  haters  of 
the  Yedo  bureaucracy,  completed  their  eoiip 
d'etat  in  Kioto,  January  3,  1868,  than  reforms 
began  like  a  whirlwind.  The  eta  and  hi-nin, 
human  beings  not  hitherto  counted  as  human, 
the  victims  ot"  Buddhist  fanaticism,  were  elevated 
to  citizenship.  This  measure,  first  advocated 
by  the  man,  suspected  to  be  a  Christian,  Yokoi, 
who  paid  for  his  liberality  with  his  life,  was  an 


88  DUX  CHRISTUS 

act  of  the  emperor  of  Japan  as  morally  noble  as 
the  emancipation  edict  of  Lincoln  or  the  edict 
of  Alexander  which  freed  the  serfs.  Disabili- 
ties were  removed  from  the  many  classes  of 
people  and  the  lines  of  promotion  opened. 
National  military,  naval,  postal,  judicial,  and 
educational  systems  were  formed,  which  made 
life  for  the  millions  worth  living.  Feudalism 
was  abolished  without  bloodshed.  The  writer 
witnessed  the  abdication  of  the  lord  of  Echizen, 
when,  on  October  1,  1872,  he  gathered  his  two 
thousand  retainers  in  the  great  castle  hall  of 
Fukui,  and  bade  them  transform  personal  loy- 
alty into  national  patriotism.  The  transfer  of 
all  land,  castles,  rosters,  power,  and  resources, 
from  two  hundred  and  sixty-three  feudal  fiefs 
to  the  emperor,  was  a  peaceful  transaction  ac- 
complished without  riot,  rebellion,  or  disorder 
of  any  sort.  Without  much  previous  historical 
preparation  and  moral  discipline,  it  would  not 
have  been  thought  of.  Then  the  soil  was 
turned  over  to  the  ownership  of  the  farmer  who 
had  so  long  tilled  it.  The  gentry,  numbering 
four  hundred  thousand,  and  with  their  families 
nearly  two  millions,  who  had  hitherto  worn 
swords,  and  were  exempt  from  the  payment  of 
taxes  or  tolls,  had  their  pensions  commuted  for 
fifteen  years.  Then,  laying  aside  their  swords, 
they  joined  the  productive  classes.  In  not  a 
few  cases,  these  gentlemen  sank  in  the  com- 
petition into  poverty.  Steadily  the  Japanese 
were  transformed  from  a  purely  agricultural 
to  an  industrial,  maritime,  and  manufacturing 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  89 

people.  Instead  of  the  two  economic  classes  of 
feudal  days,  the  landed  and  the  landless,  there 
were  now  manifold  industries  and  occupations. 
Taught  by  their  foreign  yatoi^  or  helpers,  they 
built  railways,  telegraphs,  ships,  and  steamers, 
reclaimed  land,  improved  the  live  stock,  ex- 
panded the  crafts,  and  began  to  compete  for 
the  ocean  iiavigation  and  the  commerce  of  the 
world.  Steadily  they  advanced  in  political 
evolution,  suppressing  rebellions,  with  the  new 
army  and  navy  made  up  of  soldiers  and  sailors 
from  all  classes,  and  broadening  into  representa- 
tive government,  both  local  and  national.  Not 
a  few  noble  spirits  fell  victims  to  the  assassin's 
sword  and  the  plots  of  bigoted  reactionaries ; 
but  finally,  in  1889,  the  wonderfully  wise,  lib- 
eral, and  eminently  sensible  written  constitution 
was  proclaimed,  and  the  elected  members  of  the 
Imperial  Diet  assembled  in  Tokio.  Among 
these  were  a  dozen  or  more  Christians.  Free- 
dom of  conscience  is  guaranteed  and  the  possi- 
bilities of  enlightened  democracy  are  shadowed 
forth  in  this  grand  instrument  of  enlightened 
government,  which  in  its  provisions  is  so  far 
ahead  of  what  all  other  Asiatic  and  some 
European  peoples  have  attained. 


90  BUX  CHRISTU8 

LITERARY  ILLUSTRATIONS 
The  Japanese  Mikd 

Great  Yamato  is  a  divine  country.  It  is  only  our  land 
whose  foundations  were  laid  by  the  divine  ancestor.  It 
alone  has  been  transmitted  by  the  sun-goddess  to  a  long 
line  of  her  descendants.  There  is  nothing  of  this  kind 
in  foreign  countries.  Therefore  it  is  called  the  divine 
land.  —  Chikafusa,  1351  a.d. 

The  art  of  writing  history  has  not  made  much  progress 
in  recent  years.  Modern  methods  of  investigation  and 
principles  of  historical  criticism  are  known  and  accepted; 
but  a  great  sifting  of  the  existing  heterogeneous  material 
must  be  done  before  history,  as  we  understand  it,  can  be 
written.  Nobody  has  yet  made  any  serious  attempt  to 
distinguish  the  true  from  the  false  in  the  old  Japanese 
annals,  though  it  is  pretty  generally  acknowledged  that 
this  process  is  indispensable.  —  W.  G.  Aston. 

This  impersonal  habit  of  the  Japanese  mind  is  shared 
by  them  with  other  races  in  the  Far  East,  notably  China. 
It  is  not  confined  to  poetry,  or  even  to  literature,  but  is 
profoundly  characteristic  of  their  whole  mental  attitude, 
showing  itself  in  their  grammar,  which  is  most  sparing 
of  personal  pronouns;  in  their  art,  which  has  no  school 
of  portrait  painting  or  monumental  sculpture  worth 
mentioning;  in  the  late  and  imperfect  development  of 
the  drama  ;  and  in  their  religious  temper,  with  its  strong 
bent  toward  rationalism,  and  its  hazy  recognition  of  a 
ruling  personal  power  in  the  universe.  To  their  minds 
things  happen,  rather  than  are  done ;  the  tides  of  fate 
are  far  more  real  to  them  than  the  strong  will  and 
endeavor  which  wrestles  with  them.  —  W.  G.  Aston. 

The  Buddhist  believes  in  a  future  life,  dependent  upon 
the  principle  of  cause  and  effect. 

The  Confucian,  in  a  present  life,  guided  by  the  reason 
of  humanitv. 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  91 

The  Sintoos,  in  a  past  life,  and  they  live  in  fear  or 
reverence  of  the  memories  of  the  dead. 

All  of  these  doctrines  are  now  suffering  a  decline  and 
are  ebbing  away.  —  Akinoki  Mori. 

Tliough  enormously  indebted  to  China,  and  at  times 
liindered  in  its  natural  development  by  a  too  implicit 
reliance  on  foreign  guidance,  it  [Japanese  literature]  has 
remained  nevertheless  a  true  index  of  the  national  char- 
acter. It  is  the  literature  of  a  brave,  courteous,  light- 
hearted,  pleasure-loving  people,  sentimental  rather  than 
passionate,  witty  and  humorous,  of  nimble  apprehension, 
but  not  profound;  ingenious  and  inventive,  but  hardly 
capable  of  high  intellectual  achievement ;  of  receptive 
minds  endowed  with  a  voracious  appetite  for  knowledge ; 
with  a  turn  for  neatness  and  elegance  of  expression,  but 
seldom  or  never  rising  to  sublimity.  —  W.  G.  Astox. 

The  Tai  Heiki  supplies  abundant  evidence  of  his 
[Kojima's]  erudition  and  command  of  all  the  resources 
of  Chinese  and  Japanese  rhetoric.  His  pages  at  times 
are  highly  charged  with  Chinese  words  and  phrases,  and 
fairly  bristle  with  Chinese  historical  allusions  and  quo- 
tations. In  this  style  of  writing,  "  a  bamboo  grove " 
means  a  family  of  princes,  a  "pepper  court"  is  put  for 
the  imperial  harem;  "cloud  guests"  stand  for  courtiers, 
the  Mikado's  carriage  is  termed  the  "  Phrenix  car,"  and 
his  face  the  "  Dragon  Countenance."  A  fair  lady  is  said 
to  put  to  shame  Mao  Ts'iang  and  Si  She,  famous  beauties 
of  Chinese  antiquity.  Civil  war  is  a  time  when  "wolf- 
smoke  obscures  the  heaven  and  whale-waves  shake  the 
earth." — W.  G.  Aston. 

Speaking  in  a  general  way,  Japanese  nature  is  not  soil 
for  pure  philosophy.  It  has  produced  many  men  of  the 
type  of  Aristotle  or  Franklin,  but  scarcely  any  of  that 
of  Plato,  or  Kant,  or  Hegel.  Buddhism  has  flourished 
in  Japan,  but  the  most  eminent  men  among  Buddhist 
believers — men  like  Nicheren,  Kobo,  Shinran  — have  in 
every  case  been  eminent  for  their  qualities  of  religious 
statesmanship.    The  sects  which  these  men  founded  havs 


92  DUX  CHRISTUS 

spread  widely  among  the  Japanese,  while  more  erudite 
and  mystical  sects,  like  the  Tendai  or  Kegon  sects,  have 
never  found  a  large  following.  —  Rev.  T.  Harada. 

Difficulty  arises  from  the  fact  that  a  Japanese  word 
frequently  covers  a  meaning  which  is  only  approximately 
the  same  as  that  of  a  corresponding  English  term,  or 
calls  up  quite  different  associations.  The  knrasu,  for  ex- 
ample, is  not  exactly  a  crow,  but  a  corvus  Japonensis,  a 
larger  bird  than  our  species,  with  different  cries  and 
habits.  The  cherry  is  in  Japan  the  queen  of  flowers, 
and  is  not  valued  for  its  fruit,  while  the  rose  is  regarded 
as  a  mere  thorny  bush.  Valerian,  which  is  to  us  sugges- 
tive principally  of  cats,  takes  the  place  of  the  rosebud  as 
the  recognized  metaphor  for  the  early  bloom  of  woman- 
hood. And  what  is  the  translator  to  do  with  the  names 
of  flowers  as  familiar  to  the  Japanese  as  daisy  or  daffodil 
to  ourselves,  but  for  which  he  can  offer  no  better  equivar 
lents  than  such  clumsy  inventions  as  Lespedeza,  Platy- 
codon  grandijioram,  and  Deaurzia  scabra  f 

—  W.  G.  Aston. 

"The  Genji"  [Monogataril  is  a  novel  of  aristocratic 
life.  Most  of  the  characters  are  personages  of  rank,  in 
describing  whose  sayings  and  actions  a  courtly  style  of 
speech  is  indispensable.  To  a  Japanese  it  would  be 
simply  shocking  to  say  that  a  Mikado  has  breakfast  — 
he  augustly  deigns  to  partake  of  the  morning  meal,  and 
so  on.  The  European  reader  finds  this  irritating  and 
tiresome  at  first,  but  he  soon  gets  accustomed  to  it.  In 
truth,  such  language  is  in  entire  consonance  with  the 
elaborate  ceremonial,  the  imposing  but  cumbrous  cos- 
tumes, and  much  else  of  the  rather  artificial  life  of  the 
Japanese  court  of  the  time.  —  W.  G.  Aston. 

One  of  those  [anti-Christian]  edicts  is  said  to  have 
read  as  follows,  "  So  long  as  the  sun  shall  warm  the 
earth,  let  no  Christian  be  so  bold  as  to  come  to  Japan ; 
the  King  of  Spain  himself,  or  the  Christians'  God, 
or  the  great  God  of   all,  if  he  violate  this  command, 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  93 

shall  pay  for  it  with  his  head."  And  two  of  the  later 
edicts,  confirining  the  old  prohibition,  run  as  follows : 
"  The  evil  sect,  called  Christian,  is  strictly  prohibited. 
Suspicious  persons  shall  be  reported  to  the  proper  offi- 
cers, and  rewards  will  be  given."  "  With  respect  to  the 
Christian  sect,  the  existing  prohibition  must  be  strictly 
observed.     Evil  sects  are  strictly  prohibited." 


An  Analysis  of  Japanese  Character 

A  striking  feature  in  the  Japanese  character  is  their 
intense  ambition,  a  desire  to  advance  and  rise,  not  to 
be  below  or  behind  anybody.  This  feeling  pervades  all 
classes  and  must  be  regarded  as  a  jwtent  factor  in  the 
nation's  astounding  jirogress  during  the  last  thirty  years. 
It  is  a  valuable  and  often  very  laudable  stimidus;  but 
foreigners  might  sometimes  come  into  unpleasant  contact 
with  it.  The  strongly  prevailing  national  spirit,  suffi- 
ciently honorable  in  itself,  frequently  manifests  itself 
toward  foreigners  in  the  form  of  unbounded  conceit  and 
persistent  self-assertion.  Self-sufficiency  and  self-reliance 
are  also  prominent  characteristics.  Mere  boys  will  often 
be  seen  to  rush  in  where  Western  doctors  would  fear  to 
tread.  Sincerity,  frankness,  and  truthfulness  are  largely 
wanting.  Virtue  and  anything  like  high  morality,  as  we 
understand  them,  ai-e  well-nigh  unknown  here.  (I  aju 
now  speaking  of  the  "  outside  of  the  churches")  Man- 
ners are  their  morals  and  ^'etiquette"  is  their  '^  clhifjue,"  — 
all  surface  work,  you  know. 

The  .Ja]ianese  are,  according  to  their  lights,  bright, 
intelligent,  quick-witted,  and  fond  of  criticising  others, 
especially  foreigners,  but  exceedingly  dislike  being  cen- 
sured in  any  way  and  are  extremely  sensitive  to  public 
opinion,  good  or  bad,  nay,  to  the  world's  opinion  of  them 
as  a  nation.  They  are  remarkably  brave,  enterprising, 
and  capable  of  great  self-sacrifice  for  a  definite  purpose  ; 
but  are  frequently  found  want  ing  in  moral  courage.  They 
are  naturally  luMK'volent,  kind,  and  toward  their  children 


94  DUX  CHBISTUS 

over  indulgent ;  but  are  devoid  of  a  forgiving  spirit,  — 
they  never  forgive  what  they  happen  to  regard  as  an 
insult  or  injury. 

The  Japanese  are  exceedingly  frivolous,  lacking  serious- 
ness in  their  disposition,  and  abound  in  levity,  are  little 
affected  by  the  grand  or  the  sublime,  have  few  inspira- 
tions and  enthusiasms,  are  too  fickle  to  know  true  placid- 
ity of  mind  and  too  callous  to  escape  from  falling  into 
cold  indifference,  have  little  acquaintance  with  deep  sor- 
row, and  "there  is  no  Fifty-first  Psalm  in  their  language 
and  no  Puritan  in  their  history." 

One  often  hears  the  Japanese  charged  with  extreme 
fickleness,  especially  in  comparison  with  the  Chinese. 
This  charge,  I  think,  requires  to  be  somewhat  qualified. 
During  the  feudal  regime,  for  nearly  three  centuries,  they 
surely  were  sufficiently  steady  and  conservative.  The 
Chinese  as  a  nation  have  not  yet  emerged  from  that  kind 
of  stagnancy,  whereas  the  Japanese  have  entered  on  the 
path  of  human  progress.  The  present  generation  of  Jap- 
anese lives  and  moves  in  an  age  of  change  in  all  depart- 
ments of  life,  in  an  age  of  transition  from  the  old  to  the 
new.  In  things  material  as  well  as  immaterial  they  are 
making  for  something  better  and  something  higher  than 
what  they  were  and  had  by  heredity  and  by  transmission 
from  of  old.  The  Japanese  are  quick-witted  and  apt  to 
jump  to  a  conclusion  without  sufficient  knowledge  and 
examination,  hence  they  readily  enter  upon  a  thing  quite 
new  to  them.  It  does  not  take  them  long  to  find  out  that 
they  have  made  a  mistake,  or  perhaps  they  are  disap- 
pointed, while  at  the  same  time  it  is  likely  that  another 
good  thing  has  attracted  their  attention.  And  so  they 
go  in  for  that,  and  (please  don't  smile)  so  on.  But  by 
and  by,  when  they  have  finally  hit  upon  the  right  thing, 
they  are  quite  steady  and  splendidly  persevering ;  witness, 
e.g.,  the  numerous  small  and  great  enterprises,  often  in- 
volving thousands  and  millions  of  money,  carried  on  by 
them  without  the  least  foreign  aid  at  this  present  time, 
with  profit  and  success.  You  may  see  the  above-described 
process  acted  out  before  your  eyes  "outside  of  the  churches  " 
every  day,  and  it  is  hoped  that  inside  of  the  churches  the 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  95 

last  stage  iu  the  process  will  be  reached  in  the  present 
generation. 

Frobably  on  account  of  their  unacquaintance  with  the 
certainties  of  science,  the  Japanese  have  no  clear  idea  of 
the  fixity  and  reality  of  things,  especially  of  unmaterial 
things.  They  do  not  conceive  that  things  are  what  they 
are  quite  independently  of  man's  opinion  and  liking  or 
disliking.  To  most  Japanese,  things  are  what  they  them- 
selves and  this  one  or  that  one  make  them  to  be  by  their 
opinions. 

As  regards  the  present  attitude  of  the  non-Christian 
spirit  of  Japan  toward  Christianity,  I  think  it  may  be 
said  that  it  regards  our  religion  with  more  or  less  of 
appreciation  and  respect.  But  the  upper  classes  look  upon 
the  native  Christians  with  a  good  deal  of  doubt  and  sus- 
picion. They  sometimes  express  wonder  at  the  confidence 
which  we  have  in  them. 

—  ^1  fort;/  years'  student  of  the  Japanese. 


Traits  and  Fkuits  of  the  Knightly  Culture 
(^Bushido) 

The  Japanese  people  fit  their  home.  They  are  inter- 
esting, amiable,  attractive.  In  stature  they  are  short  and 
small  and  light.  Their  complexion  has  just  a  warm  rich- 
ness of  the  blood  that  goes  well  with  their  jet-black  hair. 
Intellectually  they  are  bright,  quick,  keen.  Their  per- 
ceptive faculties  are  remarkably  developed,  and  from  an 
early  age.  They  have  exceptional  powers  of  imitation, 
adaptation,  assimilation.  They  are  politeness  itself,  but 
the  astute  critic  will  ]>erhaps  claim  that  a  diifcrence  be- 
tween "politeness"  and  "courtesy"  is  illustrated  in  the 
Japanese  character.  —  Edwakd  Auuott. 

The  resident  American  or  European,  with  whom  the 
novelties  of  .Japanese  life  have  worn  away,  and  who  has 
come  in  contact  with  the  hard  facts  under  the  smiling 
surface,  sees  sometiine,s  a  different  side  of  the  national 
character.  —  Edward  Abbott. 


96  DUX  CHRISTUS 

Call  upon  a  Japanese  friend  in  time  of  deepest  afflic- 
tion and  he  will  invariably  receive  you  laughing,  with 
red  eyes  or  moist  cheeks.  At  first  you  may  think  him 
hysterical.  Press  him  for  explanation  and  you  will  get  a 
few  broken  commonplaces,  —  "  Human  life  has  sorrow;  " 
"They  who  meet  must  part;"  "He  that  is  born  must 
die;  "  "  It  is  foolish  to  count  the  years  of  a  child  that  is 
gone,  but  a  woman's  heart  will  indulge  in  follies  ; "  and 
the  like. 

The  suppression  of  feelings  being  thus  steadily  insisted 
upon,  they  find  their  safety-valve  in  poetical  aphorisms. 
A  mother  who  tries  to  console  her  broken  heart  by  fancy- 
ing her  child  absent  on  his  wonted  chase  after  the 
dragon-fly,  hums :  — 

"  How  far  to-day  in  chase,  I  wonder, 
Has  gone  my  hunter  of  the  dragon-fly !  " 

—  Dr.  Inazo  Nitobe. 

The  pride  of  clan  is  now  changed  to  pride  of  race;  loy- 
alty to  feudal  chief  has  become  loyalty  to  the  emperor  as 
sovereign  ;  and  the  old  traits  of  character  exist  under  the 
European  costumes  of  to-day,  as  under  the  flowing  robes 
of  the  two-sworded  retainer. 

It  is  the  same  spirit  of  loyalty  that  has  made  it  hard 
for  Christianity  to  get  a  foothold  in  Japan.  The  em- 
peror was  the  representative  of  the  gods  of  Japan.  To 
embrace  a  new  religion  seemed  a  desertion  of  him  and 
the  following  of  the  strange  gods  of  the  foreigner.  The 
work  of  the  Catholic  missionaries  which  ended  so  disas- 
trously in  1637  has  left  the  impression  that  a  Christian  is 
bound  to  offer  allegiance  to  the  Pope  in  much  the  same 
way  as  the  emperor  now  receives  it  from  his  people ;  and 
the  bitterness  of  such  a  thought  has  made  many  refuse 
to  hear  what  Christianity  really  is.  Such  words  as 
"  King  "  and  "  Lord  "  they  have  understood  as  referring 
to  temporal  things,  and  it  has  taken  years  to  undo  this 
prejudice.  —  Alice  M.  Bacon. 

It  is  the  same  discipline  of  self-restraint  which  is 
accountable  for  the  absence  of  more  frequent  revivals  in 


THE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  97 

the  Christian  church  of  Japan.  When  a  man  or  woman 
feels  his  or  her  soul  stirred,  the  first  instinct  is  to  quietly 
suppress  the  manifestation  of  it.  In  rare  instances  is 
the  tongue  set  free  by  an  irresistible  spirit,  when  we  have 
eloquence  of  sincerity  and  fervor.  It  is  putting  a  pre- 
mium upon  a  breach  of  the  third  commandment  to 
encourage  speaking  lightly  of  spiritual  experience.  It  is 
truly  jarring  to  .Japanese  ears  to  hear  the  most  sacred 
words,  the  most  secret  heart  experiences,  thrown  out  in 
promiscuous  audiences.  "  Dost  thou  feel  the  soil  of  thy 
soul  stirred  with  tender  thoughts?  It  is  time  for  seeds 
to  sprout.  Disturb  it  not  with  speech ;  but  let  it  work 
alone  in  quietness  and  secrecy,"  writes  a  young  samurai 
in  his  diary.  —  Dr.  Inazo  Nitobe. 

While  the  great  nobles  wrangled  for  the  possession  of 
the  power,  schemed  and  fought  and  turned  the  nation 
upside  down  ;  while  the  heroes  of  the  country  rose,  lived, 
fought,  and  died,  —  the  emperor,  amid  his  ladies  and  his 
courtiers,  his  priests  and  his  literary  men,  spent  his  life 
in  a  world  of  his  own;  thinking  more  of  tliis  pair  of 
bright  eyes,  that  new  and  charming  2:)oem,  the  other 
witty  saying  of  those  about  him,  than  of  the  kingdom 
that  he  ruled  I<y  divine  right;  and  retiring,  after  ten 
years  or  so  of  puppet  rule,  from  the  seclusion  of  his  court 
to  the  deeper  seclusion  of  some  Buddhist  monastery. 

—  A.  M.  Bacon. 


98  DUX  CHRISTUS 


THEMES  FOR  STUDY  OR  DISCUSSION 

I.   The  Japanese  a  Young,  not  an  Old  Race.     Consid- 
erations. 
II.   The  Earliest  Books,  "  Kojiki"  and  "  Nihongi." 

III.  Mikadoism  the  Chief  Force  in  Japanese  History. 

IV.  The  Samurai,  as  the  Chief  Character  in  Japan's 

Story. 
V.    Art,  Architecture,  and  Literature  in  Early  Ages. 
VI.   The  Knightly  Way,  and  Japanese  Politeness. 
VII.   The  Ethical  Basis  of  the  Japanese. 
VIII.   What  Supports  to   Patriotism   can   Christianity 
furnish  ? 
IX.   Japanese  Race  Pride  as  a  Help  and  a  Hindrance 

to  Conversion. 
X.    God's  Old  Testament  with  the  Japanese. 
XI.   Comparison  between  the  Japanese  and  the  Ancient 

Greeks. 
XII.   Japan  as  the  Middle  and  Reconciling  Term  be- 
tween the  Orient  and  the  Occident. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE 

General  References  as  before 

Murdoch  and  Yamagata.   "  A  History  of  Japan."    (1904.) 

Boston.     W.  B.  Clarke  Co. 
Hakluyt  Society  Publications.  "  The  Voyage  of  John  Saris 

to  Japan,  1613."     (1900.)     "  The  Diary  of  Richard 

Cocks,  1615-1622."     (1883.) 
Brinkley.     "Oriental  Series. — Japan."     Vol.  I,  V,  VI, 

VII.     (1902.)     Boston.     J.  B.  Millet  Co. 
Tosa  Niki.     "  Log  of  a  Japanese  Journey."     Translated 

by  Flora  B.  Harris.    (1891.)    Meadville,  Pa.    Flood 

&  Vincent. 
"  Genji    Monogatari."      Translated   by    K.    Suyematsu. 

(1884.)     TrUbner  &  Co. 


TUE  MAKING   OF  THE  NATION  99 

I.  Nitobe.      "Bushido,  The   Soul  of  Japan."      (1899.) 

Philadelphia.     Leeds  &  Biddle  Co. 
A.    Knapp.      ''Feudal    and    Modern    Japan."      (1897.) 

Boston.     Joseph  Knight  Co. 
W.    E.  Griffis.     (Life  of)   "  Matthew  Calbraith  Perry." 

(1887.)     Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 
I.  Nitobe.     "  The  Intercourse  between  the  United  States 

and  Japan."     (1891.)     Baltimore.     Johns  Hopkins 

Press. 
R.    Alcock.      "The   Capital    of   the    Tycoon."      (1863.) 

Harpers. 
L.    Oliphant.     "  Lord    Elgin's    Mission    to    China    and 

Japan."     (1859.)     Harpers. 
W.    E.    (iriffis.       "  Townsend    Harris,    First    American 

Envoy  in  Japan."    (1895.)    Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 
R.    Riordan.       "  Sunrise    Stories."       (1896.)       Charles 

Scribner's  Sons. 
Poole-Dickens.    "  The  Life  of  Sir  Harry  Parkes."    (1894.) 

Macmillan  &  Co. 
R.  E.  Lewis.     "  The    Educational   Conquest  of  the  Far 

East."     (1908.)     F.  H.  Revell  Co. 
H.    Norman.      "The   Real   Japan."      (1892.)      Charles 

Scribner's  Sons. 
W.   Dickson.      "Japan."     (1869.)      Wm.  Blackwood  & 

Son. 
W.Dickson.     "  Gleanings  from  Japan."     (1889.)     Wm. 

Blackwood  &  Son. 
S.  Hartmann.    "  Japanese  Art."    (1901.)    Boston.    L.  C. 

Page  &  Co. 
E.  J.  Reed.     "Japan."     (1880.)     John  Murray. 
S.  Ransome.    "Japan  in  Transition."    (1899.)     Harpers. 
J.    O.    Davis.     "  A   Maker   of   the   New   Japan,   J.    H. 

Neesima."     F.  H.  Revell  Co. 
A.    S.    Hardy.      "Life  and  Letters  of  J.  H.  Neesima." 

(1891.)  '  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 


i 

I 


CHRONOLOGICAL  FRAMEWORK 


The  "  age  of  the  gods."     Prior  to  660  b.c. 
The  age  of  mythology  and  legend.     Prior  to 

400  A.D. 

First  images,  writings,  and  missionaries  from 
Korea. 

Active  propagation  nnder  Soga. 

Decree  ordering  the  erection  of  temples. 

The  Chinese  calendar  introduced. 

Students  sent  to  China. 

Hierarchy  of  priests  established. 

One   million   Buddhist   charms   printed    by 
emperor. 
8th  to  12th  century.     Era  of  conquest  of  Ainos  and  other 
tribes. 

Kobo  dies.     Shinto  absorbed  in  Buddhism. 

First  native  painter,  Kanaoka. 

Custom  of  mikados  abdicating,  in  full  force. 

"Genji  Monogatari"  composed.     Period  of 
literary  brilliancy. 

Era  of  conquest  over.     Military  clans  quarrel. 

Duarchy.     Kamakura  made  the  eastern  seat 
of  government. 

Shinran,  founder  of  the  Shin  sect,  dies. 

Marco    Polo   in    China,    hears    of    Xipango 
(Japan). 

Nichiren,  founder  of  the  Nichiren  sect,  dies. 
18th  century.     Tremendous  expansion  of  .Japanese  Bud- 
dhism. 

Kamakura  destroyed  by  Nitta.     End  of  the 
IIojo  rule. 

Two  rival  lines  of  mikados. 

Era  of  the  Ashikaga  rulers  and  of  civil  wai's. 

Era  of  the  "  Three  Great  Men,"  Nobunaga, 
Hideyoshi,  and  lyeyasu. 

First  Europeans.     Beginning  of  "  the  Chris- 
tian century." 

Francis  Xavier  lands  at  Kagoshima. 
101 


552  A.D. 


584 
594 
602 
606 
624 
770 


885  .  .  . 

850  .  .  . 

987  ..  . 

1004  .  .  . 

1156  .  .  . 

1192  .  .  . 

126.3  .  .  . 

1275-1292 

1282  .  .  . 


1333  .  .  . 

1336-1392 
1335-1573 
1573-1616 

1542  .  .  . 

1549  .  .  . 


102  DUX  CHRISTU8 

Continued  from  page  101. 

1579  .  .  .  Two  hundred  churches  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  Roman  Catholic  Christians 
in  the  empire. 

1583   .  .  .     First  Japanese  embassy  to  Spain  and  Rome. 

1590   .  .  .     Beginning  of  the  city  of  Yedo. 

1597-1637  Persecutions  of  the  foreign  and  native 
Christians. 

1615  .  .  .  Revival  of  learning.  Yedo  the  eastern  capi- 
tal. 

1615-1868  Era  of  great  peace.  Revival  of  pure  Shinto. 
Cultivation  and  establishment  of  Con- 
fucianism. 

1868-1900  Disestablishment  of  Buddhism.  Abolition 
of  the  Riobu  system.  State  purification 
and  patronage  and  decay  of  Shinto. 

1889   .  ,  .     Constitution  granting  freedom  of  conscience. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE    RELIGIONS    OF   JAPAN 

The  Lower  Forms  of  Paganism.  —  Tlie  story 
of  Japanese  religions  shows  that  "  man,"  as  says 
Sabatier,  is  "incurably  religious."  His  soul  is 
hungry  for  something  to  satisfy  it,  and  until 
higher  light  and  truth  are  brought  to  him  he 
gropes  blindly  after  God,  if  haply  he  may  find 
him.  Long  before  he  has  a  "  book  religion  " 
he  fears  and  hopes,  and  worships  the  mysteri- 
ous forces  and  objects  around  him.  In  prehis- 
toric Japan  there  existed  various  low  })hases  of 
native  worship,  traces  of  which  to  sharp  eyes 
are  still  manifest  in  every  part  of  the  empire, 
while  the  clear  evidences  to  the  scholar  are 
many.  Before  the  opening  of  the  country  to 
foreigners,  they  were  visible  on  every  hand, 
from  Riu  Kiu  to  Yezo.  Shamanism,  tlie  worshi[) 
of  spirits  or  invisible  beings  ;  fetichism,  the  wor- 
sliip  of  inanimate  objects  ;  j)])allicism,  the  wor- 
ship of  the  reproductive  powers  of  nature  ;  trea 
and  serpent  worship  — were,  and  are  still,  widely 
])revaleiit.  The  large  number  of  beliefs  founded 
on  mythical  zoology  —  the  delirium  tremens  of 
paganism  —  winch  daily  sway  the  thought  and 
actions  of  millions  of  the  Japanese,  seems  to  be 
unknown,  not  only  to  the  average  tourist  in 
their  country,  but  also  to  most  public  speakers 
103 


104  DUX  CHRISTUS 

addressing  audiences  of  Japanese.  To  be  born 
and  grow  up  and  live  under  the  soughing  of  the 
forest  growths  of  paganism,  or  of  Christianity, 
makes  mind  and  imagination  in  each  case  very 
different.  The  same  words  have  varying 
meaning  and  color  to  the  two  kinds  of  auditors. 
The  more  obscene  manifestations  of  the 
phallic  worship,  which  both  the  dweller  in  sea- 
ports and  cities  and  the  traveller  in  the  interior, 
in  the  early  seventies,  noted  on  every  side,  at 
temple  festivals,  in  toy  and  picture  shops,  and 
by  wayside  shrines,  in  revolting  luxuriance,  ac- 
companied with  shocking  personal  exhibitions  to 
an  extent  now  incredible,  have  been  suppressed 
and  abolished  by  government.  Nevertheless, 
this  worship  is  still  carried  on  in  out-of-the-way 
places.  Is  it  an  accident  that  streets  leading  to 
the  sacred  shrines  at  Ise  are  lined  on  both  sides 
with  houses  of  prostitution  ?  The  licensed 
house  of  ill-fame  is  one  of  Japan's  oldest  social 
institutions.  As  matter  of  fact,  which  every 
missionary  teacher  and  even  tourist  ought  to 
know,  the  average  native  of  Japan  had  no  clear 
idea,  or  only  a  very  vague  notion,  of  one  per- 
sonal God  Almighty.  Visiting  lecturers  and 
inexperienced  missionaries  make  a  great  mis- 
take in  talking  to  an  audience  of  common 
people  in  Japan  as  they  would  to  a  similar 
gathering  in  Christendom,  where  the  idea  of  one 
living  and  true  God  is  a  commonplace  thought. 
Indeed,  a  single  glance  at  Japanese  art  or  a 
knowledge  of  its  literature  show  what  ideas 
the  people  have  as  to  the  activity  of  myriads  of 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  JAPAN  105 

imaginary  beings  in  connection  with  their  daily 
lives. 

The  Way  of  the  Gods.  —  The  first  of  the  prim- 
itive forms  of  religion  in  Japan,  kami  no 
michi^  the  path  of  the  gods,  received  its  Chinese 
name,  Shinto,  only  in  later  centuries.  It  was  a 
rude  system  fitted  for  a  rude  state  of  society. 
Shinto  is,  literally,  theology,  or  the  god  way. 
Before  the  disciples  of  Jesus  at  Antioch  were 
called  Christians,  they  were  referred  to  as  of 
"  that  Way,"  and  to  this  day,  in  Japan,  religion 
is  always  spoken  of  as  a  "  do,"  or  way.  The 
people  of  the  Jesus  Way  are  distinguished  from 
those  of  the  Buddha  AVay,  the  God  Way,  etc. 

Let  us  look  at  the  books  of  Shinto.  Besides 
the  "Kojiki"  and  "Nihongi"  are  the  chants 
and  prayers,  and  the  book  called  the  "  Collection 
of  Myriad  Leaves,"  in  which  are  many  pretty 
poems.  A  Shinto  shrine  has  no  idols  or  images, 
and  the  temples  are  severely  plain.  The  round 
metal  mirror  which  one  sees  is  believed  to  urge 
the  looker-on  to  gaze  into  his  own  heart  for 
purity  of  word,  thought,  act,  in  mind  and  body, 
in  both  belief  and  practice.  Suspended  from 
upright  rods  or  sticks  of  unpainted  wood  are 
folded  or  notched  strips  of  wliite  paper,  making 
a  zigzag  effect.  These  are  modern  symbols  set 
in  place  of  the  ancient  offering  of  hemp,  silk, 
and  various  kinds  of  food  to  the  gods.  The 
spirits  are  su[)posed  to  reside  in  these.  From 
the  liturgies  we  learn  much  of  the  ideas  govern- 
ing Shinto  ;  for  example,  we  liiid  tliat  the  origin 
of  evil  is  attributed  to  the  wicked  kami,  and  to 


106  DUX  CHBISTUS 

get  rid  of  them  is  to  free  one's  self  from  the 
troubles  of  life.  The  object  of  the  ritual  wor- 
ship is  to  compel  the  turbulent  and  malevolent 
kami  to  go  out  and  away  from  human  habita- 
tions to  the  mountain  solitude  and  rest  there. 
The  liturgies  and  prayers  are  preserved  in  spe- 
cial books,  which  give  also  the  number  and 
names  of  the  gods,  both  good  and  evil ;  the  gods 
of  the  wind,  land,  sea,  and  sky  ;  the  gentle  and 
rough  spirits  ;  the  prayers  of  worshippers  for 
their  emperor  and  for  themselves  ;  and  tell  of 
the  sun-goddess,  the  fire  myth,  and  the  ritual, 
specimens  of  which  are  given  in  the  section  de- 
voted to  literary  illustrations.  Besides  the  an- 
cient prayers,  others  have  been  made  in  modern 
times  for  special  occasions,  as  when  the  Mikado 
left  Kioto  for  Yedo  in  1868,  and  when  he  pro- 
claimed the  written  constitution  and  opened 
parliament  in  1890. 

In  Shinto,  sin  is  ceremonial  pollution.  Hence 
a  large  part  of  the  forms  of  worship  consist  of 
rites  of  purification,  and  their  inheritance  of 
customs  and  beliefs  have  made  the  Japanese  a 
cleanly  people  in  person,  house,  street,  and  city. 
They  carry  neatness  to  a  passion.  Another 
equally  potent  and  permanent  fruit  of  Shinto 
is  seen  in  the  political  dogma  of  Mikadoism, 
making  all  national  reverence,  power,  and  even 
all  the  memories  and  hopes  of  the  nation  to 
centre  in  the  emperor. 

Patriotism  exalted  to  a  Religion.  —  Patriotism 
in  Japan  is  exalted  to  a  religion  ;  and,  as  far  as 
Japan  has  a  national  religion,  it  is  Shinto.     No 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  JAPAN  107 

one  can  live  long  in  the  land  without  meeting 
with  Shinto  ideas  expressed  in  popular  and 
pleasing  form,  in  manners,  customs,  toys,  and 
language.  At  the  end  of  the  house  roofs,  we 
see  the  broad  terminal  tile  with  the  river  weed 
moulded  on  it,  for  this  is  the  plant  with  which 
the  Clay  Hill  Maiden  pacified  the  fire  god. 
The  same  symbol  of  power  and  victory  may  be 
seen  in  a  pair  of  the  same  leaves  in  shining  brass 
on  the  crest  of  the  warrior's  helmet  of  old 
feudal  days.  Not  a  few  of  the  popular  dances, 
games,  sports,  and  amusements  take  their  origin 
from  the  age  of  the  gods  and  stories  in  the  na- 
tive mythology.  The  "  Kagura,"  "  the  play  that 
makes  the  gods  laugh,"  is  an  amusing  represen- 
tation with  many  local  hits  and  fun  up-to-date, 
of  the  retreat  of  the  sun-goddess  into  her  cave 
and  tlie  methods  used  to  lure  her  out.  For 
many  pretty  stories  of  the  age  of  the  gods, 
we  must  go  to  "  Japanese  Fairy  World,"  or 
similar  collections  of  mythic  lore. 

Although  waxing  old  and  fast  passing  away 
as  a  system,  yet  the  fruit  of  Shinto  lives  in  the 
intense  patriotism  of  the  people,  as  a  powerful 
motive  and  undying  force  —  a  force  with  which 
Christian  teachers  Jiave  to  reckon,  and  which, 
wlien  purified,  transfigured,  and  reincarnated  in 
Japanese  Christianity,  may  be  as  beautiful,  as 
beneficent  in  its  workings,  as  that  race-spirit 
whicli,  in  the  Germanic  nations,  gave  us  the  free 
spirit  of  inquiry  and  enterprise,  the  institution 
of  chivalry,  the  Gothic  cathedral,  and  the  rev- 
erence of  man  for  woman. 


108  DUX  CHRISTU8 

Shinto  as  a  Political  Force.  —  There  is  a  po- 
litical side  to  Shinto,  in  what  we  may  call  Mika- 
doism,  or  the  power  of  the  emperor  to  compel 
the  reverence  of  his  subjects.  How  far  this 
political  use  made  of  Shinto  is  justified  by  the 
primitive  documents  of  the  cult  is  a  question 
for  critical  scholarship  to  settle.  When,  in  the 
seventh  century,  the  monarchical  system  of 
government  was  established,  the  people  were 
then,  and  for  centuries  afterwards,  made  to 
believe  that  things  had  always  been  as  they 
were,  and  virtually  as  they  are  now,  under  the 
Mikado's  rule  ;  that  is,  "  unbroken  from  ages 
eternal."  Nevertheless,  it  has  been  amply  de- 
monstrated by  both  foreign  and  native  students 
that  Mikadoism,  or  state-church  Shinto,  made 
first  a  usurpation  in  worship  and  then  turned 
the  primitive  faith  into  an  engine  of  govern- 
ment. Religion  was  yoked  to  practical  politics 
and  the  emperor  was  made  the  centre  of  wor- 
ship. Some  of  the  festivals  now  directly  con- 
nected with  the  Mikado's  house,  and  even  in 
his  honor,  were  originally  religious  ceremonies 
of  thanksgiving,  with  which  the  Mikado  had 
nothing  to  do,  except  as  leader  of  the  worship, 
for  the  honor  was  paid  to  Heaven  and  not  to 
his  imperial  ancestry.  Thanksgivings  of  the 
court  were  also  made  to  Heaven  itself  and  not 
in  honor  of  the  sun-goddess,  as  is  now  popularly 
supposed.  The  sun-goddess  —  probably  some 
local  chieftainess  —  herself  once  actually  cele- 
brated the  most  sacred  of  the  feasts.  So,  also, 
the  holy  temples  of  Ise,  the  Mecca  of  Shinto, 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  JAPAN  109 

and  even  the  shrines  in  the  imperial  palace, 
were  originally  temples  of  worship  of  Heaven, 
and  not  of  the  Mikado's  ancestors.  The  idea 
of  inferior  gods,  or  those  of  earthly  origin, 
forms  no  part  of  original  Shinto.  Not  one  of 
the  original  Mikados  was  deified  after  death, 
and  only  by  degrees  was  the  ruler  of  the  coun- 
try given  a  place  of  worship.  This  was  done 
through  a  dogma  that  was  political  rather  than 
religious  ;  that  is,  by  attributing  to  him  a  de- 
scent from  heaven.  The  whole  custom  of  dei- 
fying emperors  came  in  only  after  primitive 
Shinto  had  been  corrupted  by  Buddhist  priests 
and  ideas.  The  contention  of  scholars  is  that 
the  ancient  religion  of  the  people  in  central 
Japan  was,  in  its  origin,  a  rude  sort  of  mono- 
theism, which,  as  in  ancient  China,  was  coupled 
with  the  worship  of  subordinate  spirits. 

Outward  Manifestations.  —  In  Shinto,  as  or- 
ganized under  official  supervision,  the  ministers 
of  religion  belonged  to  particular  families  who 
were  honored  by  titles  to  offices  by  the  emperor. 
They  dressed  like  other  people  of  the  same  rank 
as  themselves  in  everyday  life,  but  when  offi- 
ciating in  their  sacred  offices  were  robed  in 
white,  and  wore  upon  their  heads  a  particular 
form  of  high  cap.  They  married,  reared  fami- 
lies, and  did  not  shave  their  scalp,  except  that 
the  lower  grade  of  shrine  keepers  wore  their 
hair  in  the  ordinary  fashion,  prevalent  until 
quite  recently,  that  is,  with  shaven  midscalp 
and  topknot. 

On  a  Japanese  landscape  the  most  character- 


110  DUX  CHRISTUS 

istic  object  is  the  tori-i,  a  kind  of  gateway  under 
which  worshippers  pass  to  the  shrine.  Literally 
it  means  "  bird-rest,"  but  whether  used  for  the 
perch  of  fowls  giving  notice  of  the  break  of  day, 
or  for  their  place  of  rest  before  being  offered  to 
the  gods,  or  that  on  which  the  sun,  conceived 
of  as  a  bird,  rested  before  sleeping  in  the  west, 
is  not  certain.  The  correct  tori-i  is  of  un- 
painted  wood,  made  of  two  tree  trunks,  held 
crosswise  on  a  transverse  smooth  tree  trunk, 
which  projects  somewhat  over  the  two  support- 
ing posts,  while  under  this  is  a  second  and 
smaller  beam  set  in  between  two  uprights.  The 
law  of  structure  is  that  a  pole  held  from  the 
earth  base  to  the  end  of  the  upper  beam  should 
have  the  lower  or  shorter  beam  touch  it.  In 
later  Buddhist  times,  the  tori-i  was  painted  red 
or  white  and  ornamented  with  tablets.  In  mod- 
ern degenerate  days  it  has  even  been  made  hol- 
low, of  boiler  iron.  In  the  case  of  Inari,  or  the 
fox-god,  the  little  tori-i  are  set  in  scores  of 
gateways,  making  a  colonnade  of  approach  to 
his  shrine.  Often  reared  in  high  places,  amid 
God's  beautiful  trees,  that  compel  instinctive 
uncovering  of  the  head,  one  is  religiously  im- 
pressed by  the  natural  surroundings,  and  the 
reader  of  Tennyson  recalls  — 

"  The  great  world's  altar-stairs, 
That  slope  through  darkness  up  to  God." 

The  Emphasis  on  Cleanliness.  —  Shinto  lays, 
as  we  have  seen,  tremendous  emphasis  on  clean- 
liness.    So  great  has  this  passion  been  inbred 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  JAPAN  111 

in  the  Japanese,  that  the  feelings  of  disgust  at 
what  was  defiling  have  long  prevailed  over 
those  of  pity  or  compassion,  and  the  stolidity 
in  presence  of,  or  contempt  for,  human  suffer- 
ing, especially  when  the  sufferer  was  a  beggar 
or  outcast,  is  much  like  that  of  the  Chinese  or 
Koreans.  All  the  accompaniments  of  birth  or 
death  were  considered  defiling,  and  it  was  usu- 
ally customary  to  burn  the  house  in  which  a 
person  had  died.  The  most  beautiful  expres- 
sion of  this  feeling  is  seen  in  the  lovely  "  island 
without  death,"  on  which  neither  man  nor  beast 
is  allowed  to  die,  but  the  sick  and  those  likely 
soon  to  pass  away  are  carried  to  the  mainland. 
The  infected  j^atient  or  lying-in  woman  was 
in  ancient  times  put  out  of  the  house,  in  a  hut 
of  straw,  until  the  time  of  normal  health,  the 
hut  being  afterwards  burned.  Until  a  quite 
recent  period  in  some  places,  notably  Yries  Isl- 
and, this  custom  was  maintained.  This  horror 
of  death  or  defilement,  with  its  attendant  super- 
stitions, was  probably  the  cause  of  the  frequent 
removal  of  the  capital,  or  seat  of  governmert. 
Before  Nara  was  chosen  (in  709,  and  until  794) 
there  had  been  fifty  capitals,  most  of  which  to- 
day exist  simply  as  geographical  expressions. 
Horror  of  uncleanliness  was  so  great  that  the 
priests  not  only  bathed,  but  bound  slips  of  paper 
over  their  mouths,  lest  their  breath  should  defile 
the  offerings.  Many  of  the  festivals  were  for 
purification  alone.  Salt  was  commonly  used  to 
sprinkle  over  the  ground,  and  all  who  attended  a 
funeral  must  free  themselves  from  contamina- 


112  BUX  CHRISTUS 

tion  by  the  use  of  salt.  The  high  officers  and 
even  the  emperor  publicly  washed  the  people, 
or  made  lustrations  in  their  behalf.  Later  on,  as 
settled  habitation  became  more  common,  public 
ablution  as  a  sacred  rite  was  supplanted  by 
using  paper  manikins  instead.  Twice  a  year, 
figures  cut  in  paper  and  representing  human 
beings  were  thrown  into  the  river  as  a  vicarious 
cleansing  from  sin.  Later  the  chief  minister  of 
religion  in  Kioto  performed  the  symbolical  act 
for  the  people  of  the  whole  country. 

Those  who  study  religion  as  a  growth  may 
ask,  "  Into  what  would  Shinto,  so  bald  and 
rudimentary,  have  developed,  had  it  been  left 
by  itself  ? "  Would  there  have  arisen  litera- 
ture, codes  of  morals,  great  systems  of  dogma, 
liturgies,  festival  routine,  and  most  of  those 
outward  popular  features  and  complexity  of 
dogma  into  which  all  religions,  even  the  simple 
religion  of  Jesus,  are  fashioned  by  their  ad- 
herents ?  Such  questions  are  interesting.  As 
matter  of  fact,  when  the  great  flood  of  Chinese 
and  Buddhistic  literature  overwhelmed  the 
intellect  of  the  Japanese,  and  Buddhism,  under 
missionary  activity,  expanded  immensely,  there 
was  no  further  development  of  "  the  god  way  " 
for  nearly  a  thousand  years.  It  was  almost 
completely  absorbed  into  a  system  called  Riobu 
(mixed)  Shinto,  in  which  the  latter  word  may 
represent  the  lamb  and  the  thing  digested, 
while  Riobu  stands  for  the  tiger  and  the 
eater.  Ultimately  less  than  twenty  temples 
remained  with  the  pure  faith  and  ritual.     All 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  JAPAN  113 

the  others  were  swamped  and  overlaid  by  the 
system  of  Kiobu.  This  was  concocted  by  a 
Buddhist  priest,  known  as  Kobo,  who  is  also  said 
to  have  invented  the  kana  writing,  or  syllabary, 
and  of  whom  we  shall  speak  again. 

The  Revival  of  Pure  Shinto.  —  After  a  thou- 
sand years'  sleep  in  Buddhism,  there  were  signs 
of  the  resurrection  of  Shinto.  In  the  great  peace 
established  by  lyeyasu,  after  1614,  scholars  were 
encouraged  and  left  free  to  explore  the  ancient 
Japanese  language,  literature,  and  religion. 
Their  task  was  much  like  that  of  the  modern 
explorers  of  Pompeii  or  the  Roman  catacombs, 
for  the  ancient  life  and  civilization  had  been 
buried  under  the  rubbish  and  debris  of  war,  as 
well  as  under  the  successive  layers  of  Chinese 
civilization  and  Buddhism.  Libraries  were 
formed,  and  earnest  study  began.  Tlie  priest 
Keichu  (1640-1701)  explored  and  commented 
upon  that  great  treasure  house  of  ancient  poetry, 
the  "  Collection  of  One  Thousand  Leaves  " ;  Adzu- 
maro  (1660-1736),  founder  of  the  modern  school 
of  i)ure  Shinto,  attempted  the  mastery  of  the 
whole  arcliaic  native  language  and  literature. 
His  pupil  and  successor  was  Mabuchi  (1697- 
1760)  who  claimed  descent  from  the  crow-god 
that  had  led  the  Yamato  invaders.  Then  came 
Motoori  (1730-1801),  a  scholar,  who,  with  a 
(rerman-like  thoroughness,  analyzed  the  native 
literature,  showing  whas  was  Chinese  and  what 
was  of  native  origin.  Hirata,  his  pupil  (1776- 
1848),  continued  the  work  of  his  master  until  the 
Perry  era.     Witli  astonishing  learning,  IMotoori 


114  DUX  CHRISTU8 

set  forth  and  defended  the  native  religion.  He 
taught  that  Japan  was  the  land  of  the  gods  and 
the  country  of  the  holy  spirits,  because  it  was 
the  first  part  of  the  world  created.  Other  coun- 
tries were  formed  by  the  solidifying  of  the  sea 
foam,  while  the  stars  came  into  existence  when 
the  warm  mud  from  Izanagi's  spear  was  flung 
up  to  the  sky.  It  was  the  Chinese  who  invented 
morals  because  they  were  immoral  people,  but  no 
true  Japanese  has  need  for  any  system  of  morals, 
because  he  will  act  aright  if  he  will  but  consult 
his  own  heart.  So  also  the  ancient  poet  Nito- 
maro,  who  died  in  737  a.d.,  wrote  — 

"  Japan  is  not  a  land  where  man  need  pray 
For  'tis  itself  divine  ; 
Yet  do  I  lift  my  voice  in  prayer." 

The  duty  of  every  good  Japanese  is  to  obey 
the  Mikado,  whether  his  commands  are  right  or 
wrong.  The  Mikado  is  a  god  and  vicar  of  all 
the  gods,  and  the  centre  of  church  and  state,  for 
government  and  religion  are  one.  Foreign  na- 
tions are  very  remiss  in  their  duty  of  not  at  once 
offering  tribute  to  the  Mikado,  but  then  they  are 
ignorant  and  unenlightened  ! 

Trivial  as  the  Western  man  may  consider  these 
words,  written  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
however  he  may  look  upon  such  a  rudimentary 
faith,  Shinto  has  been  a  tremendous  political 
force.  Its  modern  revival  was  contemporane- 
ous with  the  revival  also  in  Japan  of  Chinese 
learning,  ethics,  and  philosophy  in  the  seven- 
teenth century.     During  the  eighteenth  century 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  JAPAN  115 

these  forces  generated  a  mighty  energy,  which, 
consolidated  in  the  nineteenth,  were  all  ready, 
when  Perry's  fleet  appeared  in  the  Bay  of  Yedo, 
to  burst  out  into  volcanic  manifestation.  It  is 
simply  Occidental  conceit  and  ignorance  that 
supposes  that  the  secret  of  Japan's  modern 
power  lies  only  in  what  has  come  to  her  from 
the  West,  or  that  her  modern  life  is  merely  an 
addition,  instead  of  a  true  evolution.  Nor  can 
we  hope  for  any  spiritual  uplift  or  the  conver- 
sion to  holiness  of  the  Japanese  through  civiliza- 
tion. As  matter  of  fact,  however,  in  the  great 
stream  of  varied  influences  which  abolished 
feudalism  and  restored  the  Mikado,  not  only  to 
the  supreme  power  enjoyed  by  his  predecessor, 
but  to  a  potency  and  enlargement  never  before 
known  to  any  of  his  ancestors,  the  ideas  of  the 
old  god-way  formed  not  the  least  potent  factor. 
Purging  of  the  Temples.  The  Three  Com- 
mandments. —  Immediately  on  being  seated  in 
power  in  1868,  the  radical  Shintoists  took  ad- 
vantage of  their  long-awaited  opportunity  to 
attempt  the  abolition  of  Buddhism  and  the 
propagation  of  Shinto.  They  began  lirst  by 
purifying  the  Riobu  temples.  A  change  was 
wrought  in  the  outward  array  of  popular  Bud- 
dhism as  thorough  as  that  which  went  on  in 
the  Roman  Catholic  cathedrals  at  the  hand  of 
the  reformers  and  Protestants  in  Europe.  It 
was  from  gaudiness  to  austei-e  simplicity.  The 
same  temple  which  to-day  was  luxuriant  in  all 
its  details,  both  superb  and  tawdry,  gilded,  re- 
splendent, blazing  with  light  and  color,  looked 


116  DUX  CBRI8TUS 

on  the  morrow  more  like  a  respectable  barn 
than  a  place  of  worship.  Everything  that  could 
remind  a  Japanese  of  foreign  elements  was  cast 
out  and  a  return  made  to  the  baldness  of  the 
early  ages  before  art  and  letters. 

Failure  in  Propagation.  —  An  attempt  was 
made  to  propagate  Shintoism  and  win  adherents. 
But  from  the  first  the  effort  seemed  hopeless. 
Looking  at  the  matter  to-day  in  the  light  of 
over  thirty-six  years  of  history,  the  whole  move- 
ment, from  the  religious  point  of  view,  may  be 
called  a  failure,  though  as  a  political  measure  it 
may  be  considered  fairly  successful.  At  first 
the  Council  of  Gods  of  Heaven  and  Earth  held 
equal  power  with  the  Great  Council  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. Then  as  a  political  revolution  was 
made  toward  the  standard  of  German  imperial- 
ism, the  Council  was  made  a  department  of  the 
government,  later  it  was  called  the  board,  and 
still  later  a  bureau.  Now,  except  as  a  system 
of  guardianship  over  the  imperial  tombs  and  as 
a  mode  of  official  etiquette,  Shinto  is  not  a  re- 
ligion. It  is  indeed  a  power  to  supply  the  spring 
and  motive  to  patriotism,  but  to  call  it  a  religion 
seems  absurd.  Even  the  priests  at  Ise  have 
become  laymen.  The  three  main  commands  of 
the  Shinto  of  to-day  are  the  following:  — 

1.  Thou  shalt  honor  the  gods  and  love  thy 
country. 

2.  Thou  shalt  clearly  understand  the  prin- 
ciples of  heaven  and  the  duty  of  man. 

3.  Thou  shalt  revere  tlie  emperor  as  thy 
sovereign  and  obey  the  will  of  his  court. 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  JAPAN  111 

Decay  of  the  Aboriginal  Faith.  —  Numerous 
sects  of  Shinto  have  sprung  up,  some  of  them 
quite  recent,  and  evidently  borrowing  elements 
from  Christianity.  On  the  other  hand,  some 
fruits  of  the  decaying  cult,  as  blended  with  the 
poisonous  elements  of  Western  civilization,  have 
been  seen  in  the  soshi  —  young  rowdies  and 
ruffians  who  for  a  decade  or  two  so  bothered 
cabinet  ministers  with  their  advice  and  impu- 
dence. Such  phenomena  called  forth  from  the 
Mikado,  in  1892,  an  imperial  rescript  requiring 
that  the  photograph  of  the  emperor  be  exhib- 
ited in  every  school,  and  saluted  by  all  teachers 
and  scholars,  whatever  their  beliefs  or  scruples. 
While  some  insist  that  this  is  an  act  of  religion, 
others  treat  it  but  as  a  form  of  loj^alty  only. 
To-day  the  radical  Shintoist  believes  that  all 
political  rights  now  or  ever  enjoyed  by  the 
Japanese  are  solely  by  virtue  of  the  Mikado's 
grace  and  benevolence.  Some  curious  notions 
and  verbal  and  phrase  coloring,  derived  from 
Shinto,  are  also  seen  in  the  text  of  the  constitu- 
tion of  1889. 

No  Morals  and  No  Immortality.  —  As  Shinto 
teaches  no  code  of  morals  and  tells  nothing  of 
life  hereafter,  the  soul  of  the  Japanese,  thirsting 
and  hungering  after  more  and  better  spiritual 
food,  knowing  nothing  of  the  Heavenly  F'ather 
or  his  infinite  love  in  Christ  Jesus,  turned  to 
other  fountains  and  food.  Buddhism  ministered 
to  the  cravings  and  emotions,  and  Confucianism 
gave  rules  of  moral  conduct.  Yet  we  must  not 
forget  that  the  average  person  in  Japan  does 


118  DUX  cnmsTus 

not  analyze  or  separate  the  three  systems.  To 
him  they  are  an  amalgam,  forming  one  method 
of  life.  Except  the  severely  bigoted  sectarians, 
the  mass  of  the  people  use  various  temples  and 
the  reading  classes  get  their  mental  pabulum 
from  the  books  of  the  writers  or  teachers  of  the 
native  Japanese,  the  Aryan,  or  the  Chinese  sys- 
tem. Only  the  Christian  can  afford  to  ignore 
them  all  as  "rudiments  of  the  world,"  "beggarly 
elements,"  while  to  the  Christ-filled  child  of 
God,  to  whom  Japan  is  native  country,  Shinto, 
Buddhism,  and  Confucianism  are  things  alto- 
gether shinda  (dead),  for  his  Jesus  is  alive  for- 
evermore. 

Essence  of  Buddhism.  —  Buddhism,  though 
outwardly  very  much  resembling  Christianity, 
especially  the  Roman  and  Greek  Catholic  forms 
of  it,  is  in  its  nature  and  essence  radically  differ- 
ent from  what  Jesus  taught.  Those  parallels 
and  resemblances,  so  much  dwelt  upon  by  super- 
ficial observers,  are  almost  entirely  on  the  sur- 
face, for  real  Buddhism  is  real  atheism.  It 
starts  out  without  any  idea  of  the  Creator,  or 
personal,  omnipotent  God,  and  deals  almost 
entirely  with  human  relations,  with  the  career 
and  destiny  of  man  as  exemplified  in  the  law  of 
cause  and  effect.  The  chief  lesson  taught  is 
that  "as  a  man  soweth  so  shall  he  also  reap." 
This  doctrine  and  also  that  of  self-conquest,  with 
ten  thousand  illustrations,  form  the  chief  themes 
of  the  bonzes,  or  preaching  monks. 

Nirvana  is  the  perfect  emancipation  from  all 
passion.     The  Buddhist  teaches  the  suppression 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  JAPAN  119 

of  all  desire,  while  the  Christian  doctrine  is  to 
elevate  and  purify  desire,  seeking  ever  nobler 
objects.  Buddha  has  shown  us  how  to  crush 
and  kill  our  impulses;  Jesus  teaches  to  apply 
the  rein  and  curb  so  as  to  have  desire  draw  in 
the  harness  of  reason,  conscience,  and  the  spirit- 
ual affections.  Hence  Buddhist  civilization  is 
stagnant ;  Christian  civilization  is  progressive. 
Buddha  would  seclude  his  people  from  the  world. 
Jesus  says,  "  In  the  world,  but  not  of  the  world." 
It  is  this  idea  of  deliverance  from  longfinffs  and 
passion,  which  forms  the  burden  of  many  Bud- 
dhist holy  books,  and  is  expressed  by  plastic  art 
in  the  superb  bronze  statues,  colossal  in  size  and 
overawing  in  their  influence,  which  are  to  be 
found  in  many  places  in  Japan,  such  as  the  Dai 
Butsu  at  Kamakura. 

This  faith,  which  in  its  various  forms  domi- 
nates the  intellect  and  emotions  of  millions  of 
people  in  Asia,  and  which  is  greatly  affected  and 
admired  by  a  few  thousand  in  Christendom 
(largely  because  they  do  not  know  what  Bud- 
dhism is,  and  because  they  are  unconsciously 
enjoying,  as  in  "The  Light  of  Asia,"  a  form  of 
Christianity,  tricked  out  in  Asiatic  phrase),  is 
amazingly  elastic.  It  has  an  octopus-like  power 
of  seizing  upon  whatever  it  catches  hold  of,  and 
calling  it  its  own,  so  that  its  enthusiastic  pro- 
fessors will  tell  you  that  Buddliism  is  "-truth 
common  to  every  religion,  regardless  of  the  out- 
side garments."  Indeed,  tlie  hierarchs  at  Kioto 
are  quite  willing  to  annex  Christ ianily  to  their 
system.     Others  more  frankly,  like  the  great  art 


120  DUX  CHEISTUS 

apostle,  Okakura,  will  tell  you,  and  with  much 
truth,  that  "  Buddhism"  is  a  word  that  covers 
that  long  process  of  over  a  thousand  years,  by 
which  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  influences 
of  India  were  made  to  dominate  the  mind  of 
eastern  Asia.  Amiel  has  said,  "  The  prayer  of 
Buddhism  is  '  deliver  us  from  existence.'  The 
prayer  of  Christianity  is  'deliver  us  from  evil.'" 
Buddhism,  when  honest,  is  frankly  pessimistic ; 
Christianity,  when  real,  is  of  necessity  optimistic. 

The  Coming  of  Buddhism  to  Japan.  —  Passing 
over  the  subjects  of  the  origin  and  growth  of 
Buddhism  in  India  and  China,^  we  glance  at 
its  two  forms  on  the  Asian  continent  and 
refer  the  reader  to  Japanese  works  ^  which  con- 
tain the  story  of  the  founder  of  Buddhism. 
Its  chief  doctrine  is  that  of  karma,  or  in  Japan- 
ese, ingwa,  that  is,  Cause  and  Effect,  whereby 
it  is  taught  that  each  effect  in  this  life  springs 
out  of  a  cause  in  some  previous  incarnation, 
and  each  act  in  this  life  bears  its  fruit  in  the 
next,  all  of  which  grows  directly  out  of  the 
old  Hindoo  doctrine  of  the  transmigration  of 
souls.  Buddhism  seeks  to  know  only  men  and 
things,  and  is  atheistic  humanism. 

The  Buddhism  of  continental  Asia  followed 
two  channels,  the  southern  and  northwestern. 
The  southern  form,  confined  chiefly  to  Ceylon, 
Siam,  Burmah,  and  Cochin-China,  remained 
comparatively  austere  and  simple.  In  Java 
and  the  East  Indies,  where  magnificent  ruins  of 

1  Treated  in  "  Lux  Christi "  and  "  Rex  Christus." 

2  Especially  to  Rev.  J.  L.  Atkinson's  "  Prince  Siddartha." 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  JAPAN  121 

temples  are  found,  it  has  died  out.  The  north- 
ern form  became  amazingly  varied,  florid,  and 
idolatrous,  in  which  the  old  noble,  eight-fold 
path  of  self-conquest  and  pure  morals  was 
utterly  lost  in  a  forest  of  superstitions.  Gods 
and  devils  were  multiplied  into  mobs.  Charms, 
magic,  prayer-mills,  and  the  bric-a-brac  of  a 
decayed  religion  filled  China. 

Multitudes  of  Idols.  —  With  an  overpopulated 
pantlieon,  and  a  paradise  "wonderfully  like  Ma- 
homet's, Buddhism  in  the  sixth  centur}-  entered 
Japan,  which  probably  then  contained  two  or 
three  million  people,  who  lived  in  a  state  of 
civilization  that  may  be  compared  with  that  of 
the  Aztecs  or  the  Iroquois.  The  bringing  in 
of  the  golden  images,  the  sacred  books,  and 
shining  vestments,  with  the  chanting  of  the 
bright-robed  choirs  of  priests,  made  a  tremen- 
dous impression  on  the  susceptible  Japanese. 
The  peaceful  introduction  was  soon  followed 
by  quarrels,  fighting,  and  burning  of  the 
temple  of  the  new  faith.  The  first  eminent 
friend  of  Buddhism  was  the  minister  of  stata, 
Soga,  and  its  second  and  greatest  champion 
was  the  son  of  the  Mikado,  named  Shotoku. 
Born  in  the  year  572,  and  dying  621  a.d.,  the 
latter  was  all  his  life  a  vigorous  defender  and 
propagator  of  tlie  new  faitli.  lie  founded  a 
large  number  of  temples  and  monasteries, 
framed  codes  of  laws,  and  introduced  the  first 
calendar.  His  postliumous  name  means  Holy 
Goodness.  His  images  are  seen  in  shrines  all 
over  the  empire.     At  the  Osaka  Exposition,  in 


122  DUX  CHRISTUS 

the  summer  of  1903,  a  thousand  or  more  shaven 
priests  gathered  to  celebrate  his  birth,  in  their 
full  canonicals,  by  chanting  the  sutras  in  uni- 
son, and  the  casting  of  a  colossal  temple  bell 
to  his  glory.  In  Japan,  while  men  cut  the 
timber  and  do  the  work  of  erection  and  decora- 
tion, the  women  make  great  sacrifices  of  money, 
mirrors,  and  gifts  of  all  sorts,  crowning  all  by 
the  sacrifice  of  their  hair.  In  building  the 
new  Honguanji,  in  1895  (Temple  of  the  Origi- 
nal Vow)  in  Kioto,  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  women  gave  their  hair  as  an  offering 
to  Buddha,  to  make  the  ropes  employed  in 
hoisting  the  great  stones  of  the  outer  wall  into 
their  place.  "  We  saw,"  says  Canon  Tristram,^ 
"fifty-three  of  these  ropes  of  rich,  glossy  black 
hair,  each  two  spans  in  circumference,  forty  or 
fifty  feet  in  length.  What  devoted  zeal  im- 
pelled the  daughters  of  the  land  to  such  a 
sacrifice!  " 

Changes  made  by  the  Japanese.  —  Hundreds  of 
Buddhist  missionaries  followed  the  first  pio- 
neers from  Korea,  and  under  the  reign  of  the 
Empress  Jito  (690-696)  a  great  expansion  of 
the  new  faith  took  place.  In  the  later  centu- 
ries Japanese  pupils  went  over  into  China  to 
enter  the  monastery  schools,  study  Buddhist 
writings,  meet  the  new  lights  of  learning  and 
revelation,  and  become  versed  in  the  latest 
fashions  of  imported  religion.  Returning  to 
Japan,  they  founded  new  sects  or  sub-sects, 
stimulating  by  their  enthusiasm  the  itinerant 
1  "  Rambles  in  Japan,"  p.  203. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  JAPAN  123 

monks.  After  nine  hundred  years  of  multitu- 
dinous labors,  Japan  was  converted  and  became 
a  Buddhist  nation.  Even  the  colossal  bronze 
image  at  Kamakura  is  chiefly  the  result  of  the 
devotion  of  Itano,  a  Buddhist  nun. 

Gradually  Japanese  Buddhism  went  through, 
not  only  a  mighty  expansion  and  development, 
but  also  a  tremendous  evolution  of  doctrine,  so 
that,  to  Buddhists  of  the  continent  of  Asia, 
Japan  is  the  Land  of  Dreadful  Heresies.  De- 
tailed lists  of  sects  and  founders,  with  their  dis- 
tinguishing doctrines  and  characteristics,  may 
be  studied  in  books  devoted  to  the  subject.  We 
can  only  mention  the  nine  principal  sects  (omit- 
ting the  forty-two  sub-sects)  and  the  number  of 
temples  in  each  in  1903  :  Tendai  (4602)  ; 
Shingon  (12,965);  Jodo  (8343);  Rinzai  (6120)  ; 
Sodo  (13,706)  ;  Obaku  (556)  ;  Shin  (19,608); 
Nichiren  (5194)  ;  Ji  (857).  Japanese  ecclesias- 
tical writers  classify  all  extant  or  extinct  in 
three  groups,  the  first  six,  or  ancient ;  the  med- 
iicval  ;  and  the  four  modern  sects. 

Wlien  two  centuries  and  a  half  had  passed  by, 
the  teachers  of  the  new  faith  from  India  found 
that  the  Japanese  people  still  clung  tenaciously 
to  their  old  traditions,  customs,  and  faith  ;  for 
tlieir  gods  were  like  themselves.  It  was  clearly 
seen  that  something  more  than  teaching  and 
ritual  was  necessar5^  Tlie  whole  heritage  of 
national  customs  and  ideas  as  expressed  in 
Shinto  must  be  occupied  b}'^  Buddhism.  To  do 
tliis,  to  make  tlie  very  ruts  and  paths  of  national 
habits  shine  with  the  glory  of  "  the  wheel  of  the 


124  DUX  CHRISTUS 

law,"  it  was  necessary  that  the  popular  festivals 
and  names  of  the  gods  should  be  Buddhaized. 
The  man  to  do  this  work,  at  once  bold  and 
crafty,  was  Kobo,  the  Buddhist  priest  (born 
A.D.'774). 

Shinto  swallowed  up  in  Buddhism.  —  Kobo 
made  a  catalogue  of  Shinto  gods,  giving  them 
Buddhist  names,  with  liturgies.  He  did  the 
same  thing  for  the  festivals.  Then,  training  up 
a  band  of  disciples  and  employing  hundreds  of 
artists,  he  sent  them  forth  to  propagate  the  new 
system  and  make  it  attractive  to  eye  and  ear  as 
well  as  mind.  The  people  first  accepted  the 
new  version  of  things  from  the  teachers.  Then 
the  artists,  decorators,  and  image-makers  so 
made  over  the  old  Shinto  shrines  that,  instead 
of  the  former  simplicity  of  these  barn-like 
structures,  there  was  now  the  splendor  of  Bud- 
dhist temples.  Or  they  built  new  edifices  with 
the  latest  and  most  fashionable  decorations. 
It  was  a  process  much  like  transforming  Quaker 
meeting-houses  into  metropolitan  cathedrals, 
such  as  those  in  Italy,  which  blaze  with  color, 
gems,  and  gold,  are  heavy  with  the  perfume  of 
incense,  and,  mysterious  with  shadow  and  dark- 
ness, are  lighted  up  only  with  holy  wax  and 
consecrated  flame. 

Such  a  swallowing  up  of  the  national  religion 
was  possible  only  because  Buddhism  itself  had 
already  become  so  thoroughly  pantheistic.  The 
sun-goddess  became  Amida,  as  we  see  in  the 
great  bronze  images.  Ojin,  the  god  of  war, 
son  of  Queen  Jingo,  invader  of  Korea,  became 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  JAPAN  125 

Hachiman.  For  each  of  the  thirty  days  of  the 
raonth  there  was  a  manifestation  of  the  Buddha 
in  Japan,  in  previous  ages,  when  the  Japanese 
were  not  yet  prepared  to  receive  the  sage's  holy 
law.  New  gods  were  invented  from  time  to 
time,  as  great  men  died  or  were  deified,  while 
out  of  the  eight  millions  or  so  of  native  Jcami, 
several  hundred  were  catalogued  to  serve  as 
Buddhas.  Heroes  of  local  tradition  and  deified 
forces  of  nature  were  called  gongen^  or  temporary 
manifestations  of  Buddha.  It  is  for  this  reason 
that  tourists  to  Nikko  hear  the  great  lyeyasu 
spoken  of  in  common  speech  as  '•'■  gongen  sama.''^ 
Many  of  these  gongen  temples  attract  crowds 
of  pilgrims  and  yield  fat  revenues  to  the  priests, 
as  regularly  as  the  autumn  harvests.  So  great 
is  the  stream  of  pilgrims  at  the  most  holy  tem- 
ples, as,  for  example,  Zenkoji,  at  Nagano,  on  the 
west  coast,  that  it  is  said  even  a  cow  could  find 
her  way  thither.  There  are  also  comical  and 
amusing  instances  of  the  degradation  of  these 
gongen  into  tobacco-shop  images,  with  other 
associations  that  are  as  ludicrous  as  they  are 
absurd.  Thus  Shinto  was  buried  in  the  much 
altered  India  cult,  and  the  new  creed  of  Japan 
went  on  to  write  new  chapters  of  decay,  and  a 
library  of  despondency  and  despair. 

A  Story  of  Degradation.  —  Tlie  story  of  Bud- 
dhism in  Japan  is  for  the  most  part  one  of  deg- 
radation. It  won  by  losing  its  own  original 
purity  of  thought  and  noble  ethical  standards. 
Its  history  shows  what  kind  of  mind  the  aver- 
age Japanese  has,  and  also  its  religious  quality. 


126  DUX  CHRISTUS 

It  emphasizes  also  the  folly  of  preaching  the 
gospel  of  Christ  to  an  average  audience  of  na- 
tives as  if  it  were  a  company  of  hearers  satu- 
rated with  the  idea  of  one  God,  who  is  both  able 
to  save  and  to  destroy.  "  Where  Christianity 
has  one  Lord,  Buddhism  has  a  dozen."  "  To 
the  millions  of  China,  Korea,  and  Japan,  creator 
and  creation  are  new  and  strange  terms."  "  We 
speak  of  God,  and  the  Japanese  mind  is  filled  with 
idols.  We  mention  sin,  and  he  thinks  of  eat- 
ing flesh  or  the  killing  of  insects.  The  word 
'  holiness '  reminds  him  of  crowds  of  pilgrims 
flocking  to  some  famous  shrine,  or  of  some  fa- 
mous anchorite  sitting  lost  in  religious  abstrac- 
tion till  his  legs  rot  off.  He  has  much  error 
to  unlearn  before  he  can  take  in  the  truth." 

Kobe's  smart  example  has  been  followed  only 
too  well  by  the  people  in  every  part  of  the 
country.  One  has  but  to  read  the  stacks  of 
books  of  local  history  to  see  what  an  amazing 
proportion  of  legends,  ideas,  superstitions,  and 
revelations  rests  on  dreams ;  how  incredibly 
numerous  are  the  apparitions  ;  how  often  the 
floating  images  of  Buddha  are  found  on  the 
water  ;  how  frequently  flowers  have  rained  out 
of  the  sky  ;  how  many  times  the  idols  have 
spoken  or  shot  forth  tlieir  dazzling  rays,  —  in  a 
word,  how  often  art  and  artifices  have  become 
alleged  and  accepted  reality.  Unfortunately, 
the  characteristics  of  this  literature  and  under- 
growth of  idol  lore  are  monotony  and  lack  of 
originality ;  for  nearly  all  are  copies  of  Kobo's 
model.     His  cartoon  has  been  constantly  before 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  JAPAN  127 

the  busy  weavers  of  legend.  The  outcome  of 
Buddhism  is  not  even  good  morals ;  rather, 
esthetic  culture,  which  leaves  both  the  indi- 
vidual and  the  nation  helpless  for  spiritual 
reform. 

By  the  fourteenth  century  Kobo's  leaven  had 
leavened  the  whole  lump,  and  this  and  tlie 
following  century,  with  its  propagating  zeal, 
form  the  golden  age  of  Japanese  Buddhism. 
In  the  sixteenth  century,  feudalism  was  in  frag- 
ments, and  civil  war  was  the  rule.  Sect  was 
arrayed  against  sect,  and  the  monasteries  were 
fortified,  and,  in  armor  and  on  horseback,  armies 
of  abbots  and  monks,  sometimes  fifteen  thou- 
sand strong,  took  part  in  war,  often  turning  the 
scale  of  conflict.  Then  followed  the  clash  with 
Portuguese  Christianity  and  the  bloody  perse- 
cutions and  humbling  of  the  bonzes  under  the 
iron  hand  of  Nobunaga. 

The  Changes  wrought  in  Japanese  Life.  —  Yet 
let  us  ]je  just  and  do  all  deserved  honor  to  the 
Buddhists,  first  and;  last.  Though  given  in  the 
past  tense,  the  following  is  a  picture  of  the  re- 
ligious and  social  situation  of  to-day  :  — 

"  In  .lapanese  life,  as  it  existed  ])efore  the  in- 
troduction of  Buddhism,  there  was,  with  bar- 
bai'ic  simplicity,  a  measure  of  culture  somewhat 
indeed  above  the  level  of  savagery,  but  probably 
xevy  little  that  could  be  appraised  beyond  that 
of  the  Iroquois  Indians  in  the  days  of  the  Con- 
federacy. For  tliough  granting  that  there  were 
many  interesting  features  of  art,  industry,  erudi- 
tion, and  civilization,  which  have  been  lost  to 


128  DUX  CHRISTUS 

the  historic  memory,  and  that  the  research  of 
scholars  may  hereafter  discover  many  things  now 
in  oblivion  ;  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  certain 
that  much  of  what  has  long  been  supposed  to 
be  of  primitive  Japanese  origin,  and  existent 
before  the  eighth  century,  has  been  more  or  less 
infused  or  enriched  with  Chinese  elements,  or 
has  been  imported  directly  from  India,  or  Persia, 
or  has  crystallized  into  shape  from  the  mixture 
of  things  Buddhistic  and  primitive  Japanese. 

"  Not  only  around  the  human  liabitation,  but 
within  it,  the  new  religion  brought  a  marvellous 
change.  Instead  of  the  hut,  the  dwelling-house 
grew  to  spacious  and  comfortable  proportions, 
every  part  of  the  Japanese  house  to-day  showing 
to  the  cultured  student,  especially  to  one  famil- 
iar with  the  ancient  poetry,  the  lines  of  its  origin 
and  development,  and  in  the  larger  dwellings 
expressing  a  wealth  of  suggestion  and  meaning. 
The  oratory  and  the  kamidana^  or  shelf  hold- 
ing the  gods,  became  features  in  the  humblest 
dwelling.  Among  the  well-to-do,  there  were 
of  course  the  gilded  ancestral  tablets  and  the 
worship  of  progenitors  in  special  rooms,  with 
imposing  ritual  and  equipment,  with  which 
Buddhism  did  not  interfere ;  but  on  the  shelf 
over  the  door  of  nearly  every  house  in  the  land, 
along  with  the  emblems  of  the  Kami,  stood  im- 
ages representing  the  avatars  [or  manifestations] 
of  Buddha.  There  the  light  ever  burned, 
and  there  offerings  of  food  and  drink  were 
made  thrice  daily.  Though  the  family  worship 
might  vary  in  its  length  and  variety  of  ceremony, 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  JAPAN  129 

yet  even  in  the  home  where  no  regular  system 
was  followed,  the  burning  lights  and  the  stated 
offering  made,  called  the  mind  up  to  thoughts 
higher  than  the  mere  level  of  providing  for 
daily  wants.  The  visitation  of  the  priests  in 
time  of  sorrow,  or  of  joy,  or  for  friendly  con- 
verse, made  religion   sweetly  human."  ^ 

Nevertheless  Buddhism  failed  utterly  to 
satisfy  the  man  of  thought,  to  whom  life,  as 
embodied  in  noble  ideals  of  conduct,  was  more 
than  the  meat  of  dogma,  and  to  whom  the  body 
of  ethics  was  more  than  the  gorgeous  raiment 
of  ceremonials.  So  at  the  first  dawn  of  peace 
and  leisure,  at  the  opening  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  we  find  Confucianism  winning  the 
minds  of  the  new  generation. 

Confucianism  in  Japan.  —  Modern  philosophi- 
cal Confucianism,  the  creed  of  most  gentlemen 
and  educated  men  in  eastern  Asia,  except  in 
new  Japan,  is  very  different  in  form  and  even 
in  spirit  from  the  primitive  religion  of  the 
Chinese.  Confucius  put  into  literary  form  the 
primitive  Chinese  religion  and  traditions.  In 
doing  tliis  he  gave  them  a  new  form.  Whereas 
the  older  cult,  while  more  simple,  was  more 
spiritual,  its  chief  burden,  sacrifice,  and  the  wor- 
ship of  tlie  Great  One  in  Heaven  prominent, 
Confucius  made  a  transfer  of  empliasis,  laying 
stress  on  social  and  political  duties.  He  threw 
into  the  background  the  idea  of  communion  with 
God  and  spiritual  holiness,  and  dwelt  almost 
entirely  upon  "  the  five  relations." 

^From  "  The  Keligions  of  Japan,"  by  W.  E.  Griffis. 


130  DUX  CHRISTU8 

Everything  which  comes  into  Japan  suffers 
a  change,  because  the  Japanese  do  not  blindly 
adopt,  but  always,  more  or  less  intelligently, 
adapt.  They  are  not  mere  imitators,  but 
usually  improvers.  Confucianism  in  Japan 
became  something  quite  different,  both  in  cul- 
tus  and  philosophy,  from  what  it  had  been  in 
its  first  home.  The  root  idea  of  China's  social 
and  ethical  system  is  filial  piety,  obedience  of 
the  child  to  parents,  reverence  of  the  young 
to  the  old,  and  submission  of  the  dependent  to 
the  master.  On  the  contrary  in  Japan,  while 
order  and  subordination  are  enforced,  the  corner- 
stone of  the  ethical  system  is  not  filial  piety, 
but  loyalty  to  the  master.  This  was  largely 
because  of  the  environment  of  feudalism,  as 
well  as,  and  on  account  of,  the  Japanese  genius 
and  spirit.  The  man  who  deserted  parents, 
wife,  and  children  for  the  feudal  lord  received 
unstinted  praise.  The  master  passion  of  the  old 
typical  samurai  made  him  regard  life  as  less  than 
nothing,  when  duty  demanded  of  him  a  display 
of  loyalty  by  self-renunciation,  the  loss  of  family, 
of  property,  or  even  of  life  itself.  All  this,  while 
beautiful  from  one  point  of  view,  has  furnished 
the  fertile  ground,  out  of  which  have  sprung, 
as  from  the  sown  dragon's  teeth,  crops  of  vice 
and  crime,  such  as  woman's  shame  and  the  sale 
of  the  daughter  for  filial  piety's  sake  to  the 
shambles  of  lust,  the  vendetta,  the  sons  of  ven- 
geance, the  assassin,  and  the  suicide.  Out  of 
these,  —  private  war  and  self-murder  made  hon- 
orable, —  as    from   perennial   fountains,    rivers 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  JAPAN  131 

of  blood  have  flowed  through  Japanese  history. 
"  Not  to  live  under  the  same  heaven  with  the 
murderer  of  father  or  lord,"  made  the  funda- 
mental law  which  licensed  the  taking  of  human 
life  with  applause  and  glorification.  Besides 
occurring  in  the  world  of  fact  and  routine,  this 
national  habit  has  furnished  also  the  standard 
plots  for  the  po})ular  novel  and  drama.  Even 
in  the  Japan  of  to-day,  in  the  common  relations 
of  life,  it  is  less  love  than  fear  that  rules.  Our 
ordinary  words  ''  father,"  "  mother,"  "•  brother," 
and  "  sister "  have  not  the  depth  of  meaning 
which  they  bear  in  Christian  lands.  In  fact, 
there  is  no  simple  word  in  Japanese  for  brother 
or  sister,  but  only  for  younger  or  older,  because 
the  Japanese  family  is  built  perpendicularly  on 
the  idea  of  graded  subordination,  not  on  that  of 
equality  and  affection.  Hence  also  the  glorifi- 
cation of  the  political  assassin,  who  has  so  often 
in  the  new  Japan  made  sovereign  and  nation 
mourn.  Hence  also  the  perpetual  decoration 
day  held  at  the  tombs  of  murderers.  It  is  this 
old  spirit  which  has  so  often,  even  in  the  Japan 
of  our  times,  brought  sorrow  to  the  emperor, 
through  the  loss  of  his  ablest  servants  struck 
down  by  the  murderer's  sword. 

Confucianism  becomes  Philosophy.  —  For  a 
thousand  years  Japan  enjoyed  Confucianism  in 
its  simple  form,  as  a  rule  for  the  conduct  of  life, 
but  not  as  a  philosoph}'  for  the  educated.  Be- 
tween the  tenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  when 
Confucianism  in  China  was  undergoing  a  trans- 
formation from  cult  to  creed,  there  was  little 


182  DUX  CHRISTU8 

intercommunication  between  the  continent  and 
archipelago.  Suddenly,  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, in  the  profound  peace  inaugurated  by 
lyeyasu,  the  Japanese  intellect,  all  ready  for 
new  surprises,  received,  as  it  were,  an  electric 
thrill.  Chinese  scholars  nurtured  under  the 
Ming  dynasty  (1368-1628)  fled  from  China  to 
Japan,  rather  than  wear  a  queue  or  yield  to 
the  Tartar  Manchus,  who  in  Peking  are  still 
the  political  bosses  of  the  conquered  Chinese. 
Under  the  patronage  of  the  feudal  lord  of  Mito, 
these  learned  guests  established  schools,  that 
presented  the  new  system  of  Confucian  philoso- 
phy, which  until  1870  was  the  basis  of  a  Jap- 
anese education  and  the  creed  of  a  Japanese 
gentleman.  Those  who  differed  from  the  ortho- 
dox Confucianists  of  the  college  in  Yedo  were 
pretty  sure,  especially  if  political  suspects,  to 
suffer  banishment,  torture,  or  death.  In  these 
latter  days,  when  Confucianism  in  Japan  is  as 
dead  as  the  traditional  door-nail,  some  of  the 
children  and  grandchildren  of  these  martyrs  for 
what  they  believed,  are  earnest  followers  of  Jesus 
in  the  Christian  churches  of  Japan. 

The  era  from  1604  to  1868  was  the  most  peace- 
ful period  known  in  Japan.  Wars  were  scarcely 
more  than  a  memory,  and  the  military  art  was 
retained  only  by  means  of  an  elaborate  etiquette. 
In  a  sense,  Japan  was  husbanding  both  her  re- 
sources and  the  blood  of  the  nation  for  a  sublime 
future.  Yet  the  reverse  of  the  picture  reveals  a 
horrible  situation.  Industrial  developments  and 
agriculture  were  pushed  to  the  utmost  extent, 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  JAPAN  133 

but  beyond  a  certain  point  these  activities  of  the 
producer  could  not  go,  for  no  outlet  existed  in 
the  form  of  a  foreign  market,  nor  was  the  normal 
increase  of  population  provided  for  by  emigra- 
tion. The  existence  of  a  more  progressive  civili- 
zation in  other  lands  was  not  even  suspected. 
Japanese  theories  were  thus  tested  to  their 
extreme  limits,  and  failed.  Under  such  circum- 
stances, popuhition  not  only  could  not  increase, 
but  must  be  kept  down,  for  only  a  certain 
amount  of  food  could  be  produced.  Even 
famine,  child  murder,  licensed  immorality,  could 
not  save  the  situation,  which  was  becoming  in- 
tolerable. The  coming  of  the  American  treaty 
ships  of  1853  was  a  godsend  to  Japan,  and  in 
itself  a  missionary  work. 

Sumptuary  Laws  and  Social  Customs.  —  It  is 
always  true  that  when  population  outgrows  the 
supply  of  food,  certain  checks  and  balances 
are  necessary  to  i)revent  the  people  from  de- 
generating to  a  low  standard  of  living.  Japan's 
standard  is  even  yet  low  enougli  from  the 
Occidental  point  of  view.  Plenty  of  food  is  a 
powerful  factor  in  raising  the  standard.  The 
coming  of  the  Christian  nations  with  trade, 
fraternity,  and  the  gospel  meant  life  to  the 
Japanese,  and  life  more  abundantly.  The 
famines,  once  so  frequent  and  so  terribly  de- 
structive to  human  life,  are  not  possible  in  these 
days  of  railways  and  steamers,  of  international 
sj'mpathy  and  brotherhood. 

The  terrible  famines  and  severe  sumptuary 
laws  had  their  effects  in  making  the  mass  of  the 


134  DUX  CHRISTUS 

people  live  down  to  a  rigid  standard  of  simplic- 
ity, besides  curtailing  the  number  of  ordinary 
luxuries  or  pleasures,  and  even  betrothals  and 
weddings.  Another  way  of  keeping  down  popu- 
lation, as  well  as  of  deterring  from  crime,  was 
seen  in  the  horrible  punishments,  such  as  sawing 
the  head  off  with  a  bamboo  saw,  crucifixion 
on  the  bamboo  cross,  decapitation  and  exposure 
of  the  head,  burning  at  the  stake,  and  exile  to 
distant  islands.  Even  children  had  to  die  with 
their  fathers.  Most  of  these  forms  of  punish- 
ment, as  well  as  the  traces  of  social  oppression 
under  the  feudal  system,  the  writer  has  seen. 
Other  preventive  checks  were  in  public  opinion 
and  custom  relating  to  family  life.  Usually  a 
samurai  did  not  marry  before  the  age  of  thirty, 
and  it  was  considered  vulgar  to  have  more  than 
three  children.  The  head  of  the  house  was  very 
stoical,  for  Confucianism  —  always  hostile  to 
woman's  advancement  —  had  exerted  its  blight- 
ing influence.  Affection  for  the  wife  was  dis- 
countenanced. The  man  rarely  showed  any 
tokens  of  regard,  and  rarely  handed  her  anything 
directly,  but  placed  it  so  that  she  could  take  it. 
The  woman's  life  consisted  of  "  the  three  obedi- 
ences "  to  father,  husband,  and  to  her  son  when 
he  became  head  of  the  family.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  pretty  much  all  the  horrible  and  unspeak- 
able vices  were  common  in  old  Japan.  Child 
murder  was  quite  frequent.  No  deformed  or 
defective  infant  was  allowed  to  live.  In  some 
districts  girl  babies  were  for  the  most  part 
promptly  disposed  of.    It  was  not  at  all  uncom- 


THE  RELIGIONS    OF  JAPAN  135 

iiion  nor  out  of  etiquette  to  ask,  when  a  female 
child  was  born,  "  Are  you  going  to  raise  it  ?  " 

The  Moral  Night  of  Japan.  —  All  this,  together 
with  the  prevalence  of  earthquake,  tidal  wave, 
and  typhoon,  had  its  effect  in  forming  the  char- 
acter and  temperament  of  the  people.  Yet  the 
influences  thus  generated  were  less  from  original 
qualities  inherent  in  the  Japanese  peo[)le,  than 
the  result  of  a  political  system.  By  studying 
Ja])an"s  history,  we  see  clearly  the  terrible  ex- 
periences of  a  nation  in  the  depths  of  paganism 
trying  to  grow  inside  of  the  clamps  imposed  by 
j)oor  government  and  the  rigid  limits  of  the 
earth  unsubdued  and  unreplenished,  according 
to  the  divine  command,  —  for  God  "  formed  the 
earth  to  be  inliabited."  Nature  and  human  law 
taught  tlie  people  in  old  Japan  to  be  satisfied 
with  a  little,  without  risking  new  hazards  of 
experiment.  "  These  experiences  probably  gave 
tliem  tliat  air  of  pathetic  resignation  which  we 
still  see  displayed  among  the  lower  ranks  in  the 
presence  of  death.  As  a  people  they  bear  losses 
of  every  kind  more  stoically  than  Europeans  or 
Americans.  By  nature  a  spontaneously  happy 
folk,  tliey  have  acquired  the  habit  of  submission 
to  the  inevitable." 

Proofs  are  abundant  that  morality,  in  the 
cities  at  least,  was  at  a  very  low  ebb.  AVliile 
poverty  and  wretchedness  prevailed  among  the 
lower  orders,  luxury  and  effeminacy  were  the 
rule  among  nearly  all  classes  favored  by  birth 
and  wealth.  The  pencil  of  Hokusai,  tlie  artist 
of  "the  passing  world,"  has  caricatured  the  sol- 


136  DUX  CHRISTU8 

diers  too  fat  to  get  inside  of  their  armor.  Of 
eighty  thousand  "  flag-supporters  "  of  the  iSho- 
gun,  supposed  to  be  picked  men,  ever  alert  for 
war  and  fatigue,  many  could  neither  walk  nor 
ride.  This  was  notably  and  disgracefully  seen 
when,  in  1865,  they  were  summoned  to  fight 
against  the  more  stalwart  clansmen  of  Kiushiu 
in  the  southwest.  Then  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands pleaded  the  favorite  excuse,  or  falsehood, 
in  old  Japan,  —  sickness,  though  in  their  case  it 
was  near  reality. 

The  Anti-Christian  Edicts.  —  During  this  time 
of  Japan's  seclusion  from  the  world,  the  gov- 
ernment spies  and  Buddhist  inquisition,  by 
means  of  its  lynx-eyed  priests,  made  it  next  to 
impossible  for  any  Christian  to  live  openly  in 
the  country.  The  bonzes  penetrated  into  the 
house  and  family  and  guarded  the  graveyards, 
so  that  neither  the  earth  of  burial  nor  the  fire 
of  cremation  should  embrace  the  body  of  a 
Christian,  nor  his  ashes  defile  the  ancestral 
graveyards.  Every  householder  had  to  swear 
annually,  and  the  gentleman  on  "  the  true  faith 
of  a  samurai,''''  that  neither  he  nor  any  of  his 
household  were  Christian.  Twice,  in  1688  and 
in  1711,  were  the  rewards  increased  and  the 
Buddhist  bloodhounds  set  on  fresh  trails. 
Edict  boards,  made  of  wood  and  inscribed  in 
India  ink,  were  hung  up  all  over  the  country, 
at  the  ferries,  at  the  city  gates,  on  the  village 
main  streets,  denouncing  the  evil  sect  (Chris- 
tianity) and  offering  money  to  informers.  In 
the  south  thousands  of  people  were  made   to 


THE  BELIGIONS   OF  JAPAN  137 

pass  annually  through  a  wicket  gate,  during 
which  passage  they  trampled  on  a  copper  plate, 
beariner  the  imafje  of  the  Christ  on  the  cross. 
These  engraved  plates  are  still  preserved  in  the 
museum  at  Tokio,  while  some  of  the  edict 
boards  are  in  missionary  cabinets.  Naturally 
the  idea  which  the  common  people  had  of 
Christianity  was  that  it  was  sorcery.  It  was  not 
uncommon  for  mothers  to  frighten  their  chil- 
dren with  the  name  of  Yasu  (Jesus),  who  was 
believed  to  be  some  kind  of  a  foreign  demon. 

Amid  such  spiritual  darkness,  when  Buddhism, 
fed  by  gover)iment  patronage  and  drunk  with 
power,  was  corrupted  with  luxury,  there  were 
from  time  to  time  reforming  movements  made 
by  earnest  men  who  deplored  the  low  state  of 
morals  and  the  social  corruptions  of  the  times. 
The  most  striking  evidence  of  this  we  see  in 
the  formation  of  several  new  sects.  Most  of 
these  had  the  common  idea  of  eclecticism,  that 
is,  of  uniting  Confucianism,  Buddhism,  and 
Shinto  for  ethical  reform  and  the  improvement 
of  society  ;  though,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
average  Japanese,  as  we  have  shown,  holds  the 
three  religions  in  an  amalgam,  not  looking  at 
them  separately,  as  we  do,  but  taking  his 
patriotism  from  Shinto,  his  morals  from  Confu- 
cianism, and  his  hopes  and  fears  from  Bud- 
dliism.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  phases  of 
the  reforming  movement  was  that  of  Shingaku^ 
or  heart  learning,  wherein  with  preaching  was 
combined  a  good  deal  of  active  benevolence, 
that  was  so  recognized  by  the  government  in 


138  DUX  CHEISTUS 

times  of  famine  for  the  distribution  of  rice  and 
alms.  This  promising  movement  came  to  an  end 
in  the  political  convulsions  which  followed  the 
arrival  of  the  American  fleet  in  1853.  Never- 
theless, other  men,  like  Yokoi  Heishiro,  who 
wrought  with  his  patron,  the  lord  of  Echizen, 
a  mighty  moral  revolution  in  Fukui,  the  castle 
city,  did  in  reality  preach  Christian  truth,  in 
part  at  least.  Having  got  hold  of  a  Chinese 
version  of  the  New  Testament,  this  lecturer  on 
Confucianism,  this  moral  reformer,  taught  the 
lofty  ethical  code  of  Jesus  under  the  guise  of 
dissertations  on  the  philosophy  of  Chu  Hi,  the 
twelfth-century  representer  of  ancient  Con- 
fucianism. It  is  no  wonder  then  that  Yokoi 
prophesied  the  acceptance  of  the  religion  of 
Jesus  in  Japan,  and  in  1868  pleaded  for  the  up- 
lifting of  the  Eta  pariahs  to  citizenship  and  for 
the  toleration  of  conscience.  Promptly  assassi- 
nated in  Kioto  for  such  liberalism,  rightly  sus- 
pected to  be  Christian,  Yokoi  belongs  in  the 
roll  of  martyrs  for  God's  truth  in  Japan.  He 
has  been  posthumously  honored  by  the  Mikado. 
The  Witnesses  to  Truth.  —  Yet  even  though 
blasphemous  pagans,  in  their  pitiful  ignorance 
and  savage  puerility,  might  strive  to  banish 
God  from  Japan,  the  Almighty  Father  left 
himself  not  without  a  witness.  During  these 
centuries  of  repression,  both  of  Christianity 
and  of  mental  freedom,  and  during  the  reign  of 
luxury  and  famine,  licentiousness  and  oppres- 
sion, the  smoking  flax  of  those  who  groped 
after  God,  if  haply  they  might  find  him,  was 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  JAPAN  139 

not  wholly  quenched.  Pathetic  is  the  story  of 
the  seekers  after  Our  Father  in  Heaven,  and 
of  the  inquiring  spirits  who  protested  against 
Confucian  bigotry,  the  Buddhist  inquisition, 
and  Japan's  hermit-like  conceit  and  ignorance. 
Tiiere  were  reformers  also  who  tried  to  improve 
their  country  and  people,  who  wrote  out  their 
convictions  and  then  committed  hara-kiri,  or 
were  ordered  to  death  by  the  Yedo  government. 
By  boarding  foreign  ships  and  secretly  reading 
the  forbidden  books  of  Christianity,  they  gained 
light.  The  narratives  of  pilgrims  hungry  for 
truth,  who  usually  sought  out  the  Dutch  at 
Deshima,  as  mariners  in  distress  look  for  a 
beacon,  make  thrilling  reading.  Though  fasci- 
nating, their  full  story  is  too  large  and  varied 
to  be  told  here,  but  may  furnish  themes  for 
study  and  suggestion.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
Christianity  had  a  hidden  and  subterranean  life 
in  modern  Nippon  before  the  Scriptures  and 
spiritual  nurture  were  brought  by  the  missiona- 
ries. The  Japanese,  now  building  the  tombs  of 
the  propliets,  have  written  biographies  of  these 
men  wlio  "  died  without  the  sight "  of  a  Chris- 
tian Jaj)an. 

The  Dawning  of  a  New  Day.  —  In  the  very 
michiighl,  then,  of  Jajjan's  moral  and  spiritual 
darkness,  in  July,  1858,  appeared  the  peaceful 
armada  led  by  Commodore  Perry.  The  first 
sound  whicli  the  people  heard,  after  the  sunrise 
and  evening  guns,  was  the  invitation  given,  in 
music  and  hearty  song,  to  forsake  idols  and  ac- 
knowledge God,  the  one  Father  of  all.      Was  it 


140 


DUX  CHRISTUS 


accident,  that  on  the  Lord's  Day,  on  which  the 
commodore  would  transact  no  business  with  the 
Japanese  authorities,  the  church  flag  — the  one 
ensign  allowed  above  the  stars  and  stripes  — 
was  hoisted  on  the  flag-ship  for  prayer  and 
worship  ?  No  I  for  this  was  the  rule  and  cus- 
tom. Nevertheless,  it  was  noteworthy,  even 
prophetic,  that  the  hymn  sung  on  that  Sabbath 
morning  was  this  invitation  to  the  people  living 
in  what  was  then  an  idol  and  priest  cursed 
land,  but  which  is  now  open  to  the  gospel,  and 
where  conscience  is  free  :  — 

"  Before  Jehovah's  awful  throne 
Ye  nations  bow  with  sacred  joy ; 
Know  that  the  Lord  is  God  alone, 
He  can  create  and  he  destroy." 


THE  BELIGIONS  OF  JAPAN  141 


LITERARY  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Shinto 

For  substance,  and  in  its  purity,  Shintoism  is  a  com- 
bination of  nature-worship  and  ancestor-worship.  The 
elements  and  objects  of  the  material  universe  are  deified 
in  countless  numbers.  The  architecture  of  the  temples 
is  simple,  the  characteristic  feature  being  always  a  pecul- 
iar form  of  gateway  which  is  easily  to  be  recognized.  As 
a  rule,  the  ])eople  do  not  take  any  part  in  the  Shinto 
worship,  and  the  priests  are  hardly  to  be  distinguished 
from  laymen  except  at  the  times  of  sacrifice,  when  they 
do  ])ut  on  official  dress.  The  sacrifices  consist  of  fish, 
fruits,  and  vegetables,  and  the  flesh  of  some  animals. 
There  is  no  attempt  whatever  at  moral  teaching. 

—  Edwaud  Abbott. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  describe  the  old 
Shinto  of  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries,  which  Motoori 
aimed  at  n'storing.  It  was  essentiall}'  a  nature-worship, 
upon  which  was  grafted  a  cvdt  of  ancestors.  It  tells  us 
nothing  of  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punishments, 
and  contains  the  merest  traces  of  moral  teaching.  The 
Norito  (liturgies),  in  enumerating  the  offences  from 
which  the  nation  was  purged  twice  a  year  by  the  Mikado 
or  his  representatives,  makes  no  mention  of  any  one  of 
the  sins  of  the  decalogue.  What  then  remains?  A 
mythical  history  of  the  creation  of  the  world,  and  of  the 
doings  of  a  number  of  gods  and  goddesses,  the  chief 
of  whom,  namely  the  sun-goddess,  was  the  ancestress  of 
the  human  rulers  of  Japan,  while  from  the  subordinate 
deities  were  sprung  the  principal  noble  families  who 
formed  their  court.  Add  to  this  a  ceremonial  compris- 
ing liturgies  in  honor  of  these  deities,  and  we  have  the 
Shinto  relitjion.  —  Aston. 


142  DUX  CHRISTUS 

Ancient  Shinto  Rituals 

Prayer  for  harvest-thanksgiving  to  the  sun-goddess  for 
bestowing  upon  her  descendants  dominion  over  land  and 
sea:  — 

"  I  declare  in  the  great  presence  of  the  From-heaven- 
shining-great  Deity  who  sits  in  Ise.  Because  the  sovran 
great  goddess  bestows  on  him  the  countries  of  the  four 
quarters  over  which  her  glance  extends : 

"  As  far,  as  the  limit  where  heaven  stands  up  like  a 
wall, 

"  As  far,  as  the  bounds  where  the  country  stands  up 
distant, 

"  As  far,  as  the  limit  where  the  blue  clouds  spread  flat, 

"  As  far,  as  the  bounds  where  the  white  clouds  lie  away 
fallen  to  the  blue  sea-plain, 

"  As  far,  as  the  limit  whither  come  the  prows  of  the 
ships  without  drying  poles  or  paddles,  the  ships  which 
continuously  crowd  the  great  sea-plain,  and  the  roads 
which  men  travel  by  land, 

"  As  far,  as  the  limit  whither  come  the  horse's  hoofs 
with  the  baggage  cords  tied  tightly,  treading  the  uneven 
rocks  and  tree  roots  and  standing  up  continuously  in  a 
long  path  without  a  break,  making  the  narrow  countries 
wide  and  the  hilly  countries  plain,  and  as  it  were  drawing 
the  distant  countries  by  throwing  many  tens  of  ropes 
over  them,  he  will  pile  up  the  first  fruits  like  a  range  of 
hills  in  the  great  presence  of  the  sovran  great  Goddess, 
and  will  peacefully  enjoy  the  remainder." 

Prayer  to  the  sun-goddess  for  the  Mikado,  17th  day 
of  6th  moon  :  — 

"  That  she  deign  to  bless  his  [the  Mikado's]  life  as  a 
long  life  and  his  age  as  a  luxuriant  age,  eternally  and 
unchangingly  as  multitudinous  piles  of  rock. 

"  ^lay  deign  to  bless  the  children  who  are  born  to  him, 
and  deigning  to  cause  to  flourish  the  five  kinds  of  grain 
which  the  men  of  a  hundred  functions  and  the  peasants 
of  the  countries  of  the  four  quarters  of  the  region  under 
heaven  long  and  peacefully  cultivate  and  eat,  and  guard- 
ing and  benefiting  them  deign  to  bless  them." 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  JAPAN  143 

The  Future 

Buddhism  did  not  a  little  toward  fostering  ideals  of 
lioliiiess,  humanity,  and  detachment  from  worldly  things. 
Confucianism  provided  high,  though  it  may  be  somewhat 
distorted,  standards  of  morality,  and  a  comparatively 
rational  system  of  philosophy.  Shinto  taught  a  rever- 
ence for  the  divine  powers  which  created  and  govern  the 
universe  and  man.  But  none  of  the  three  sufficed  by 
itself  to  meet  the  heart,  soul,  and  mind  want  of  the 
Japanese  nation.  Can  it  be  imagined  that  when  a  reli- 
gion is  presented  to  them  which  alone  is  adapted  to 
satisfy  far  more  completely  all  the  cravings  of  their 
higher  nature,  the  Japanese,  with  their  eminently  recep- 
tive minds,  will  fail  in  time  to  recognize  its  immense 
superiority?  They  have  already  accepted  European  phi- 
losophy and  science.  It  is  simply  inconceivable  that  the 
Christian  religion  should  not  follow.  —  W.  G.  Aston. 


Change  ABLE  Buddhism 

There  are  a  great  many  differences  between  the  old 
and  the  new  beliefs  which  are  hardly  reconcilable.  They 
are  contending  with  each  other  for  supremacy,  and  the 
Buddhist  society  is  now  torn  by  dissensions.  The  new 
s])irit  that  ra]>idly  spreads  itself  among  the  rising  genera- 
tion is  overthrowing  old  customs  one  after  another.  The 
yellow  robe,  the  tonsure,  the  rosary,  the  almsbowl,  the 
staff,  and  such  like  things  monastic,  together  with  those 
ancient  l)eliefs  that  made  them  sacred,  are  swept  away 
by  the  new  tide.  Time  will  come,  we  hope,  when  Bud- 
dhism will  undergo  a  change,  a  change  so  great  that  a 
.Japanese  Rip  Van  Winkle  will  be  at  a  loss  to  tell  whether 
it  is  Buddhism  or  not.  —  J.  D.  Davis. 


What  is  a  Buddha? 


When  I  was  eight  years  of  age,  T  asked  my  father, 
''  What  sort  of  a  thing  is  a  Buddha?"     He  replied,  "  A 


144  DUX  CHBISTUS 

Buddha  is  something  which  a  man  grows  into."  "  How, 
then,  does  one  become  a  Buddha  ?  "  said  I.  "  By  the 
teachings  of  a  Buddha."  "  But  who  taught  the  Buddha 
who  gives  us  this  teaching?"  "He  becomes  a  Buddha 
by  the  teaching  of  another  Buddha  who  was  before  him." 
"  Then  what  sort  of  a  Buddha  was  that  first  Buddha  of 
all  who  began  teaching?"  My  father  was  at  the  end  of 
■  his  answers,  and  replied,  laughing,  "  I  suppose  he  must 
have  flown  down  from  the  sky  or  sprung  up  from  the 
ground."  He  used  to  tell  his  friends  this  conversation 
much  to  their  amusement.  —  Kenko  (1350  a.d.). 


Not  for  Morality 


Shinto  shrines  and  Buddhist  temples  being  public 
resorts  for  pleasure  should  be  sparingly  visited  before 
the  age  of  forty.  —  Kaibara  (1630-1714). 

The  native  newspapers  had  lately  mentioned  that  a 
fresh  supply  of  seven  hundred  —  well,  say  waitresses  — 
had  been  engaged  by  the  enterprising  proprietors  of  the 
various  houses  of  entertainments  for  the  pious  pilgrims, 
in  view  of  the  approaching  season.  —  E.  G.  Holtham. 


Buddhism  Esthetic  not  Ethical 

Buddhism  has  had  a  fair  field  in  Japan,  and  its  out- 
come has  not  been  elevating.  Its  influence  has  been 
esthetic  and  not  ethical.  It  added  culture  and  art  to 
Japan,  as  it  brought  with  itself  the  civilization  of  con- 
tinental Asia.  It  gave  the  arts,  and  more ;  it  added  the 
artistic  atmosphere.  .  .  .  Reality  disappears.  "  This 
fleeting  borrowed  world "  is  all  mysterious,  a  dream ; 
moonlight  is  in  place  of  the  clear  hot  sun  ...  it  has  so 
fitted  itself  to  its  surroundings  that  it  seems  indigenous. 
—  George  William  Knox. 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  JAPAN  145 


THEMES   FOR   STUDY   OR   DISCUSSIOX 

I.    The  Lower  Forms  of  Paganism  in  Japan. 
II.    The  ^Mythology  and  Ritual  of  Shinto. 

III.  Is  Shinto  a  Religion? 

IV.  Temple  Architecture  and  Surroundings. 

V.   Wliat  Japan  owes  to  Buddhism.     Its  Defects. 
Vr.    Ingwa,  or  the  Doctrine  of  Cause  and  Effect. 
VI [.    The  Various  Sects  of  Buddhism. 
V^III.    Effects  of  Buddhism  on  Home  Life.     On  AVomen. 
LX.  Compare  as  Educators  of  tlie  Nation,  Buddhism, 
Confucianism,  Shinto. 
X.    Tlie  Dangers  to  Christianity  from  Buddliism. 


146 


DUX  CHBISTUS 


BOOKS  OF   REFERENCE 


"  Handbook  of  Japan."  (Satow  and  Hawes.)  (1896.) 
John  Murray. 

E.  M.  Satow's  "  Revival  of  Pure  Shinto,"  "  Shinto 
Rituals,"  "  The  Shinto  Temples  of  Ise,"  and  papers 
on  Shinto  by  other  writers;  chapters  on  Japanese 
Buddhism.  In  Transactions  of  the  Asiatic  Society 
of  Japan. 

P.  Lowell.  "  The  Soul  of  the  Far  East,"  and  "  Occult 
Japan,"  or  "The  Way  of  the  Gods."  Houghton, 
Mifflin  &  Co. 

L.  Hearn.  "Gleanings  in  Buddha  Fields."  (1894.) 
Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 

S.  L.  Gulick.  "  Evolution  of  the  Japanese."  (190;].) 
F.  H.  Revell  Co. 

W.  E.  Griffis.  "The  Religions  of  Japan."  (1891.) 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 

K.  Okakura.  "  Ideals  of  the  East."  (1903.)  E.  P.  But- 
ton &  Co. 

Mrs.  Fraser.  "  Letters  from  Japan."  (1904.)  The  Mac- 
millan  Co. 

J.  L.  Atkinson.  "  Prince  Siddartha."  (1893.)  Congre- 
gational S.  S.  and  Pub.  Society. 

A.  C.  Maclay.  "  Budget  of  Letters  from  Japan."  G.  P. 
Putnam's  Sons. 

E.  W.  Clement.  "  Handbook  of  Modern  Japan."  A.  C. 
McClurg  &  Co. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  FRAMEWORK 

1859     First  arrival  of  American  missionaries,  Nagasaki. 
1864    First    Christian    convert,    Yano    Ryu,    baptized, 
Yokohama. 
Baptism  of  Wakasa  and  Ayabe,  Nagasaki. 
1867     Publication  of  Hepburn's  Dictionary. 

1871  Japanese  embassy  starts  on  trip  round  the  world. 

1872  Gospels  of  St.  Mark  and  Sf;.  John  in  Japanese. 
First  Missionary  Conference,  Yokohama. 
First  Protestant  Christian  Church,  Yokohama. 

1873  The  calendar  of  Christendom  adopted. 
Removal  of  the  anti-Christian  edicts. 
Large  reSnforcements  of  missionaries. 

Second  Protestant  Christian  Church  established, 

Kobe. 
Union  Church  established  in  Tokio. 

1874  Native  Christian  Church  in  Tokio. 

1875  Union  Church  edifice  completed  in  Yokohama. 
Beginning  of  the  Doshisha  School  in  Kioto. 

1876  The  rest  day  (Sunday)  of  Christendom  made  a 

holiday. 

1879  United  Church  of  Christ  in  Japan. 

1880  The  complete  New  Testament  in  Japanese. 
Great  Public  Meeting  of  Christians  in  Tokio. 

138  Protestant  missionaries  and  6698  converts  in 
Japan. 

1883  Missionary  Conference  at  Osaka. 

1884  Reaction.    Doctrinal  Discussions.    Commercialism 

and  Nationalism. 

1889     Religious  Liberty  confirmed  in  the  National  Con- 
stitution. 
The  Complete  Bible  in  Japanese. 

1900     General  Missionary  Conference  in  Tokio. 

1903  The  Hymnal.  Union  for  Christian  work  at  the 
Osaka  Exposition.  Council  of  Cooperating 
Missions. 


CHAPTER   IV 

MODERN    CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS 

Subterranean  Christianity.  —  In  the  history  of 
the  religion  of  Jesus  in  modern  Japan,  the  para- 
ble of  the  leaven  receives  illustration  before 
that  of  the  mustard  seed.  We  must  first  speak 
of  tliini^s  hidden  but  potent,  rather  than  of 
what  was  visible.  Even  after  bloody  persecu- 
tions and  the  massacre  at  Shimabara  in  1637, 
there  still  remained  the  unextinguished  embers 
of  the  Christian  faith  among  thousands  of  poor 
people  in  the  Island  of  the  Nine  Provinces. 
Even  as  late  as  1839  there  was  an  insurrection 
of  people  with  Christian  ideas  in  Osaka,  in 
which  blood  was  shed,  for  the  Japanese  theory 
of  government  then  branded  all  dissent  from 
the  established  religion  and  philosophy  as 
treason.  Tiie  presence  of  the  Dutch  at  De- 
sliima  made  it  possible  also  for  eager  and  inquir- 
ing sj)irits  searching  for  God  to  find  help  and 
direction,  or  at  least  to  obtain  books  from 
which  light  might  be  had  on  tlie  path  to  (rod. 
More  than  one  Japanese,  who  learned  of  him 
whose  ''  blessed  feet  .  .  .  were  nailed  for  our 
advantage  to  the  bitter  Cross,"  after  finding 
Christ,  imitated  him  in  the  way  they  supposed 
best.  In  a  word,  they  ended  their  own  lives 
149 


150  DUX  CHBISTUS 

according  to  the  honorable  law  of  suicide,  with 
the  sword,  in  order  to  save  their  wives  and 
children.  They  saved  others  ;  themselves  the}'^ 
could  not  save.  Translations  of  the  Bible  in 
Chinese,  easily  read  by  Japanese  scholars,  and, 
in  one  case,  in  English,  like  Moses,  "drawn  out 
of  the  water,"  became,  with  the  help  of  Dutch 
interpreters  and,  through  divine  grace,  light 
and  life  to  eager  souls.  Furthermore  the  pil- 
grims of  science  from  all  over  Japan  went  to 
Nagasaki,  and  learned  not  a  little  of  the  Chris- 
tians' God  and  Saviour.  In  many  parts  of  the 
empire  there  were  little  circles  of  influence 
among  the  physicians  who  had  studied  medicine 
and  surgery  on  European  principles,  who  were 
themselves,  with  those  influenced  by  them,  thus 
made  more  sensitive  to  truth,  which  the  mis- 
sionary was  to  bring  in  full  form.  Even  as 
Paul  in  his  prison  rejoiced  in  the  preaching  of 
Christ,  "  whether  in  pretence  or  in  truth,"  so 
even  the  very  edicts  publicly  denouncing  the 
evil  sect  of  Jesus  were  as  so  many  pulpits  ever 
keeping  the  name  of  the  Christ  before  the 
multitude,  compelling  inquiry  and  searching 
of  heart. 

No  statement  of  the  reality  in  Japan  would 
be  complete  without  taking  account  of  this 
inward  preparation,  nor  would  it  be  just  to  the 
Heavenly  Father,  whose  ways  are  not  our  ways. 
As  in  Elijah's  time,  he  reserved  to  himself 
thousands  that  did  not  bow  the  knee,  either  to 
idols  or  to  accept  the  philosophy  maintained  by 
brute  force. 


MODERN   CHBISTIAN  MISSIONS  151 

Outward  Forces.  —  Outwardly  the  Holy  One 
Avas  preparing  the  forces  of  his  providence,  for 
in  the  lands  of  Bible  light  and  joy,  Japan  was 
being  made  a  subject  for  prayer,  while  from 
China  came  the  first  efforts  to  persuade  pagan- 
ism to  open  its  gates  to  humanity.  The  great 
gulf  stream  of  the  Pacific  sweeps  out  to  sea, 
and  in  old  days  swept  often  t(^  death,  the  fishing 
boats  witli  men  and  women  on  board,  who,  as 
records  show,  have  helped  to  people  the  shores 
of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  Alaska,  British  Amer- 
ica, our  own  western  coast,  and  Hawaii.  Even 
on  the  shores  of  the  Philippines,  China,  and 
Korea,  many  instances  of  shipwrecked  Japanese 
are  known.  From  Japanese  waifs,  some  of  them 
ransomed  from  Indian  slavery  in  Oregon  and 
brouglit  to  (Jhina,  Dr.  S.  Wells  Williams  learned 
the  Japanese  language,  being  thus  enabled  later 
in  1854  to  serve  as  interpreter  to  Commodore 
Perry.  Of  Dr.  Williams's  three  visits  to  Japan, 
the  first  in  1887  was  in  the  American  ship 
Morrison,  fitted  out  at  tlie  expense  of  Messrs. 
King  iS,:  Company,  the  owners.  The  fascinating 
story  is  told  in  full  in  the  book  "  Voyages  of 
the  Morrison  and  Hinimaleif  "  and  in  the  "  Life 
and  Letters  of  S.  W.  Williams."  The  Morri- 
son  was  driven  away  by  the  camion  shot  of  the 
batteries  in  Ycdo  Bay  and  also  from  Kago- 
sliima.  Dr.  Williams  lived  to  enjoy  the  Lord's 
Sup[)er  with  Japanese  Christians  and  to  be  pres- 
ent at  the  baptism  of  Okuno  in  1872. 

In  1888,  at  Nagasaki,  Dr.  S.  Wells  Williams, 
Rev.  E.  W.  S^'le,  sailors"  chaplain  at  Shanghai, 


152  DUX  CHBISTUS 

and  Rev.  Henry  Wood,  chaplain  in  the  United 
States  Navy,  met  together.  They  were  much 
impressed  with  what  Mr.  Donker  Curtius,  the 
Dutch  envoy,  who  had  just  signed  a  treaty, 
said.  He  told  these  three  Americans  that 
Japanese  officers  declared  themselves  ready  to 
open  their  country  to  trade,  provided  opium 
and  Christianity  could  be  kept  out.  In  a  word, 
the  simple  ignorance  of  the  Japanese  officers, 
who  considered  these  two  things  as  inextricably 
associated,  deserved  more  pity  than  contempt. 
These  three  Christian  gentlemen  prayed  that 
Christianity,  apart  from  priestcraft,  and  as 
founded  on  the  open  Bible,  might  be  brought 
into  the  country.  Following  up  their  faith  by 
their  works  they  wrote  home,  one  to  the  Epis- 
copal, one  to  the  Presbyterian,  and  the  third 
to  the  Reformed  Church  Mission  Boards,  urging 
that  missionaries  be  sent  at  once  to  Japan. 
The  three  letters  fell  like  seed  upon  ground 
already  prepared,  and  within  the  coming  year 
this  committee  of  three  welcomed  in  Shanghai 
the  pioneers  of  the  trio  of  missionary  societies, 
that  have,  since  1859,  occupied  Japanese  soil. 

The  Roman  and  Greek  Catholics.  —  Let  us 
first  glance  at  Christianity  in  its  Greek  and 
Roman  forms.  In  reentering  Japan  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  missionaries  had  the  advantage 
above  all  others  of  historic  continuity.  Never- 
theless they  have  had  to  contend  against  the 
prejudices  aroused  by  remembrance  of  the 
troubles  of  three  centuries  ago  and  felt  by 
them  especially.     Most  of  those  now  working 


MODERN  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  163 

are  French,  and  among  the  orders  represented 
are  the  Marianite  friars,  and  Cistercian  brothers, 
assisted  by  nuns.  They  carry  on  the  usual 
work  of  nurture  in  the  church, — 'Catechetical 
training  and  theological  education,  with  or^^han- 
ages,  boarding,  primary,  and  industrial  schools, 
dispensaries,  hospitals,  etc.  On  August  1, 
1900,  they  had  54,602  adherents,  with  106 
European  missionaries  under  one  archbishop 
and  three  bishopvS,  103  European  and  20  Japan- 
ese teachers,  over  251  congregations,  3610 
pupils  in  primary  schools,  and  4479  children  in 
orplianages. 

Of  the  Oreek  Catholic,  or  Russian,  mission- 
aries, the  chief  officer  is  liishop  Nikolai,  who 
has  been  in  active  service  in  Japan  over  forty 
years.  On  June  18,  1901,  there  were  26,698 
converts,  297  churclies,  with  173  church  build- 
ings, cared  for  by  376  ordained  Japanese  priests 
and  162  evangelists.  The  annual  increase  of 
converts  lias  been  about  1000. 

Pioneers  of  Protestant  Missions.  —  The  "  His- 
tory of  Protestant  Missions  in  Japan,"  written 
at  the  request  of  the  missionaries  by  Dr.  G.  F. 
Verbeck  for  the  Osaka  Conference  of  1883,  and 
reprinted  by  the  Tokio  Missionary  Conference 
of  1900,  is  tlie  I^ook  of  Genesis  in  the  modern 
history  of  missionary  effort  in  Japan.  The 
honor  of  the  first  landing  made  and  work  inau- 
gurated, in  1859,  belongs  to  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  in  the  United  States.  Rev.  John 
Liggins  in  May  and  the  Rev.,  afterwards 
Bishop,  C.  M.  Williams  in   June,  both  trans- 


154  DUX  CHRISTUS 

ferred,  after  years  of  service,  from  the  China 
mission,  reached  Nagasaki.  On  October  18, 
J.  C.  Hepburn  "and  his  wife,  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  arrived  at  Kanagawa,  across  the  bay 
from  Yokohama.  Dr.  Hepburn  was  joined  by 
Dr.  S.  R.  Brown,  November  1,  and  they  found 
shelter  in  an  old  Buddhist  temple  rich  in  dirt  and 
idols.  Rev.  G.  T.  Verbeck  reached  Nagasaki, 
November  7.  For  about  ten  years,  these  four 
missionaries,  Brown,  Hepburn,  Williams,  and 
Verbeck,  practically  had  the  field  to  themselves 
and  under  God  did  a  mighty  preparatory  work. 
The  situation  of  these  pioneer  missionaries 
was  often  perplexing  and  dangerous,  without 
their  knowing  just  why  or  how.  They  were 
like  the  man  in  the  fairy  tale  who  walked 
through  a  field  of  razor  blades.  All  round 
them  were  the  sharp  swords  of  assassins  ready 
and  eager  to  kill.  More  than  once  the  ferocious 
foreigner  haters,  who  thought  they  would  be 
doing  their  gods  service  in  killing  an  alien, 
came  into  the  mission  premises  expecting  to 
leave  only  with  blood-stained  weapons  and 
gloating  over  a  murder.  Instead  of  brutal 
victory,  they  were  morally  disarmed  and  liter- 
ally conquered  by  what  they  saw  and  heard. 
Often  they  were  self-compelled  to  believe. 
Besides  the  gratitude  due  to  an  overruling 
Providence,  one  may  well  appreciate  the  earnest 
desire  of  the  government  officers  to  protect  the 
foreigners'  life  and  property,  and  the  loyalty  of 
the  often  despised  but  valorous  native  guards. 
From  the  first  the  imperial  Japanese   govern- 


MODERN  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  155 

ment  has  stood  strenuously  for  international 
law  and  fulfilment  of  its  treaties. 

Naturally  the  missionaries  were  suspected  of 
being  political  emissaries,  of  helping  to  make 
Japan  poor,  and  of  coming  to  bring  all  kinds  of 
trouble  upon  the  country.  Concession  of  land 
to  foreigners,  even  for  settlement  and  trade, 
seemed  to  the  natives  to  be  the  same  as  con- 
quest, but  gradually  even  the  fanatical  patriots 
were  able  to  discern  the  reality.  Yet  it  must 
always  be  remembered,  as  distinct  from  and  in 
contrast  to  China,  that  it  was  not  the  people,  or 
mobs,  but  rather  the  underlings  of  the  Yedo 
administration,  itself  rotten  and  corrupt,  and 
the  sword-wearing,  privileged  classes,  that  sus- 
pected the  missionaries  of  evil.  The  common 
people  almost  invariably  treated  well  the  guests 
of  the  nation  and  read  quickly  their  real  inten- 
tions and  true  character. 

Hostility  of  Sword  and  Pen.  —  It  requires  a 
very  vivid  imagination  to  re-create  the  political 
situation  in  the  Japan  of  the  days  before  1868 
and  to  realize  how  bitterly  hostile  were  the 
samurai  to  the  foreigners  and  the  religion,  or 
even  to  know  the  tyranny  and  oppression,  false- 
hood and  suspicion,  that  ruled  under  the  Yedo 
system,  which  was  itself  a  sliam,  thus  rendering 
tlie  social  atmosphere  always  heavy  with  sus- 
picion. To  the  credit  of  the  samurai,  be  it  said, 
they  made,  though  slowly,  clear  discernment 
and  reached  enlightenment  much  sooner  than 
the  Buddhist  priests,  both  as  regards  Occidental 
civilization   and    true    Christianity.       Further- 


156  DUX  CHBISTUS 

more,  in  all  modern  Japanese  history  there  have 
been  none  of  those  bloody  and  destructive  riots 
or  reactions  against  progress  so  characteristic 
of  China  and  her  mobs.  Superstition,  though 
bad  enough  in  Japan,  has  never  taken  the  vio- 
lent form  of  evil  so  noteworthy  in  China. 

The  sword  failing  to  drive  out  Christianity, 
the  pen  came  into  vogue  as  a  weapon.  The 
first  literary  attack  was  in  a  pamphlet  written 
by  a  Buddhist  priest  who  had  sneakingly  come 
into  Mr.  Verbeck's  classes.  In  it  he  spoke  of 
Romanism  and  Protestantism  as  "  foxes  of  the 
same  hole."  It  was  common,  when  a  missionary 
would  speak  to  a  native  about  becoming  a 
Christian,  for  the  latter  to  draw  his  fingers  sig- 
nificantly across  his  neck,  hinting  at  what 
would  happen.  The  edict  boards  denouncing 
"the  evil  sect"  (Christianity)  were  posted  all 
over  the  land,  in  street,  market-place,  and  by 
the  ferry.  This  was  also  a  time  of  great  politi- 
cal upheaval,  as  we  have  seen.  While  there 
was  nothing  shocking  in  the  religious  rites  of 
Japanese  paganism,  as  in  India,  for  example 
(though  some  of  the  obscene  orgies  and  em- 
blems displayed  in  temple  processions  were  at 
times  almost  incredibly  vile),  and  cruelty  or 
atrocity  was  noticeable  rather  in  the  matter  of 
judicial  punishment  and  neglect  of  human  life, 
yet  the  gross  immorality  of  the  people  was  as 
disgusting  as  it  was  horrible.  Deception  and 
lying  seemed  to  be  universal,  with  a  general 
ignorance  of  the  commonest  ethics  concerning 
the  relations  of  the  sexes,  with  perhaps  the  one 


MODERN  CTIEISTIAN  MISSIONS  157 

exception  that  a  wife  should  be  faithful  to  her 
husband.  As  Verbeck  prophesied,  "  Looking 
at  idolatry  and  immorality  in  the  light  of  obsta- 
cles to  the  reception  and  spread  of  Christianity 
in  Japan  .  .  .  the  latter  will  prove  to  be  the 
more  tenacious  and  formidable  of  the  two." 
As  Dr.  S.  L.  Gulick  shows  in  his  "Evolution 
of  the  Japanese,"  they  have  not  yet,  in  ethics, 
passed  out  of  the  gregarious  into  the  individ- 
ualistic stage.  Dr.  J.  D.  Davis  in  his  paper, 
"  The  Church  and  Social  Questions,"  read  at 
the  Tokio  Conference,  and  printed  in  The  Japan 
EvangelisU  shows  that  in  this  twentieth  century 
the  crowding  of  industrial  operatives  of  both 
sexes  in  quarters  both  morally  and  otherwise 
unhealthy,  causes  results  that  are  appalling. 
Japan's  population  of  illegitimates,  criminals, 
lepers,  physical  and  moral  degenerates,  is  rela- 
tively as  large  as  under  feudalism.  Verily,  as 
a  Japanese  editor  cries  out,  the  need  of  the 
nation  is  not  more  government  or  modern  ma- 
chinery of  any  sort,  but  for  "  moral  oil  to  run  it 
with." 

The  First  Period  of  Labors.  —  The  mission- 
aries during  this  first  period  were,  under  treaty 
requirements,  involuntarily  confined  to  work  in 
a  few  open  ports.  There  were  no  qualified 
native  helpers,  and  no  books,  liibles,  or  tracts 
in  Japanese.  So  long  as  they  were  mastering 
the  language,  this  restriction  of  locality  was  not 
a  matter  of  deep  concern  ;  but  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  period,  the  want  of  liberty  to  preach  and 
teach  outside  the  settlements  was  felt  to  be  a 


158  DUX   CHRISTUS 

serious  disadvantage.  To  those  at  home  who 
supposed  that  the  missionaries  had  been  sent 
out  prematurely,  Mr.  Liggins  wrote  a  letter 
published  in  the  Spirit  of  Missions,  in  August, 
1861,  which  is  a  classic  in  its  masterly  vindica- 
tion of  the  necessity  of  the  preparatory  labors 
of  the  pioneers,  upon  the  results  of  which 
all  later  comers  have  since  built.  First  and 
most  important,  though  not  tangible  and  not 
easily  measurable,  was  the  signal  result  seen  in 
the  gaining  of  the  people's  confidence  and  the 
respect  of  the  authorities.  This  prepared  the 
way  for  the  later  liberal  measures  of  the  gov- 
ernment in  granting  full  religious  liberty,  while 
it  awakened  also  a  spirit  of  inquiry.  Let  one 
read  Gordon's  "  An  American  Missionary  in 
Japan,"  or  Verbeck's  own  testimony,  to  see  how 
much  Japanese  government  enlightenment  owes 
to  missionaries  and  their  pupils.  The  nature  of 
Bible  Christianity  has  been  shown  in  the  char- 
acter and  lives  of  those  who  brought  it.  The 
Christian  literature  printed  in  the  Chinese  char- 
acters was  twice  blessed,  for,  unexpectedly  to 
those  who  had  wrought  in  "  the  land  of  Sinim," 
a  demand  sprang  up  in  Japan  for  their  works  of 
translation.  Many  tliousands  of  volumes  of  the 
Chinese  Bible,  besides  its  derivative  and  corollary 
literature,  were  circulated  and  read  by  the  edu- 
cated in  Japan,  who  are  masters  of  the  written 
language  of  China,  which  is  as  Latin  to  the 
educated  in  Europe.  Dr.  W.  A.  P.  Martin's 
"  Evidences  of  Christianity,"  both  in  its  original 
Chinese  and  in  the  island  vernacular,  has  ever 


MOBEliN   CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  159 

been  an  especial  favorite  and  a  great  blessing  to 
the  Christianity  of  Nippon,  while  that  picture- 
story  of  the  sonl,  Bunyan's  "  Pilgrim's  Prog- 
ress," with  Japanese  illustrations,  still  wins  hosts 
of  readers.  When  Viscount  Arinori  Mori  took 
a  copy  of  Dr.  Martin's  work  to  Peking,  present- 
ing it  to  the  author  with  the  compliments  of  the 
translator,  Dr.  Martin  suddenly  asked  the 
Mikado's  minister  if  he  were  a  Christian.  The 
viscount  gave  the  characteristic  reply,  "  I  en- 
deavor to  live  so  that  men  may  think  I  am  a 
Christian." 

Beginnings  of  Bible  Translation.  —  The  ver- 
nacular was  at  first  studied  and  largely  mas- 
tered by  men  who,  from  tlie  very  fact  that  they 
had  so  few  helpers,  surmounted  difficulties  more 
thorougldy,  made  more  complete  mastery,  and 
in  their  text-books  showed  others  more  clearly 
the  path  of  success.  The  missionaries'  helps  to 
the  acquisition  of  the  language  were  extensively 
used  by  beginners,  and  in  1867  appeared  that 
superb  specimen  of  lexicography  by  Dr.  J.  C. 
Hepburn,  on  wliich  all  subsequent  dictionaries 
used  by  students  of  Japanese  from  many  coun- 
tries are  based.  Of  this  result  of  many  years  of 
toilsome  scholarly  labor,  different  editions  have 
at  times  appeared.  In  1867  the  first  religious 
tract,  prepared  by  Dr.  J.  C.  Hepburn,  came  out, 
to  be  followed  by  more  from  his  own  pen  and 
that  of  others. 

Preliminary  attempts  at  Bible  translation  had 
already  been  made  by  (hitzlaff,  Bettelheim, 
Williams,  and   Goble,  all  of  which  work  was 


160  DUX  CHRISTUS 

necessarily  imperfect.  When,  in  1870,  ths 
writer  arrived  in  Japan,  the  scholarly  work  of 
Hepburn  and  Brown  had  so  far  progressed  as 
to  be  practically  useful,  so  that  he  was  able  to 
take  with  him  into  the  interior  manuscript 
copies  of  the  Gospels  in  Japanese,  and  begin  a 
Bible  class.  The  good  news  of  God  by  Mark 
and  John  was  printed  in  1872,  and  that  of 
Matthew  in  1873. 

A  convention  of  all  the  missionaries,  together 
with  Christian  laymen  and  women  in  Japan, 
was  called,  which  met  at  Yokohama,  December, 
1872,  to  secure  a  union  committee  on  transla- 
tion, to  which  also  the  missions  not  represented 
were  invited  to  contribute.  An  earnest  at- 
tempt was  made  here  to  have  the  Church  of 
Christ  in  Japan  organized  without  the  divisive 
prejudices  and  inheritances,  names  and  orders, 
prevalent  in  Europe  and  America.  Why  should 
these  be  saddled  on  the  Japanese  ? 

Medical  Work.  —  Not  least  in  practical  Chris- 
tianity was  the  dispensary  work  of  Dr.  Hep- 
burn, who,  besides  his  daily  translation  work, 
healed  the  sick,  studying  constantly  Japanese 
books  and  bodies,  —  a  double  work  which  he 
continued  from  1862  to  1878.  Those  who  know 
only  the  Japan  of  a  certain  school  of  writers, 
from  Edwin  Arnold  to  Lafcadio  Hearn,  can 
never  believe  in  the  awful  physical  condition 
of  the  lowest  classes  in  the  Japan  of  1870  and 
before.  A  stalwart  imagination  is  necessary 
to  picture  to  the  mind  the  rottenness  and  foul- 
ness  of    the   diseased  humanity,   then   visible 


MODERN  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  161 

daily  in  the  hij^hways  and  villages,  and  that 
streamed  past  Dr.  Hepburn  every  day  in  his 
dispensary.  The  writer  remembers  seeing  scores 
of  mothers  wearying  the  good  man  with  their 
inquest  of  beseeching  looks  to  heal  their  babies, 
whose  eyes  were  eaten  out  by  smallpox,  and  thou- 
sands of  others  of  all  ages  still  more  loathsome 
with  unspeakable  diseases.  While  the  skilled 
physician  ministered,  classes  of  young  men  were 
ever  standing  by  him  as  helpers  and  pujiils, 
and  thus  the  very  first  medical  doctors  practis- 
ing in  the  Western  manner  of  modern  science 
(apart  from  those  trained  under  the  Dutch  at 
Nagasaki)  were  educated  by  Dr.  Hepburn,  who 
was  tlie  typical  scientific  man  in  the  new  Japan. 
To-day,  among  the  pupils  of  these  four  pioneer 
missionaries,  besides  scores  of  those  who  have 
served  tlieir  generation  and  passed  on,  are 
hundreds  who  hold  highest  honors  and  rank  in 
medicine,  diplomacy,  trade,  and  philanthropy. 
Especially  is  it  true  of  a  host  of  young  men 
who,  in  pure  motive  and  with  unselfisli  valor, 
once  fought  against  the  Mikado's  forces  fdi 
'•the  lost  cause"  of  1868,  that  they  found 
springing  out  of  the  soil  of  their  sorrow  and 
political  disap[)ointment  the  new  plant  of  heav- 
enly hope,  tlirough  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus. 
Among  those  who  in  this  generation  adorn  the 
service  both  of  progressive  Japan  and  of  the 
Christian  churches,  from  imperial  envoys  in 
European  capitals  to  the  humblest  of  servants,  are 
not  a  few  who  in  the  later  sixties  and  early  seven- 
ties suffered  imprisonment  or  were  under  ban. 


162  DUX  CHBISTUS 

Diversity  of  Gifts  and  Graces.  —  It  is  one  of 

the  proofs  of  the  diversity  of  gifts,  that  whereas 
Verbeck  did  his  greatest  work  unaided  and 
alone,  leaving  few  or  no  pupils,  impressing  his 
character  on  the  nation  rather  than  individuals, 
it  was  the  peculiar  power  of  Dr.  Brown  to  raise 
up  pupils  to  carry  on  the  Master's  work,  as 
presidents  of  Christian  colleges,  as  powerful 
preachers  and  wise  pastors,  active  reformers, 
and  shining  leaders  in  journalism  and  business. 
The  one  was  a  preeminent  imparter  of  light  and 
power  to  vast  audiences.  The  other  excelled 
in  the  powers  of  manipulation  and  adjustment 
which  build  up  churches,  and  in  the  trans- 
cendently  noble  art  of  moulding  individual 
character. 

Glancing  over  this  period  of  soil-breaking  and 
seed-sowing,  we  see  that  the  education  of  boys 
and  girls  had  been  begun  for  the  making  of 
Christian  homes.  In  this  period  also  the  school 
at  Kumamoto  was  begun,  first  of  all  through  the 
influence  of  Yokoi's  nephew,  Ise,  one  of  the  first 
lads  from  Japan  to  come  to  America  for  study, 
and  whom  the  writer  had  the  honor  of  teaching, 
with  others  of  his  countrymen,  at  New  Bruns- 
wick, New  Jersey.  Their  first  training  was 
under  Captain  Janes,  and  especially  that  of  his 
wife,  who  was  a  Scudder.  Out  of  this  school 
went  forth  the  "  Kumamoto  Band  "  of  Christian 
workers  and  men  eminent  in  ethical  and  edu- 
cational activities.  In  Chapter  V  of  his  at- 
tractive book,  "An  American  Missionary  in 
Japan,"  Dr.  M.  L.  Gordon  has  told  the  story  of 


MODERN   CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  163 

these  brave  young  men,  most  of  whom  are  still 
active  leaders  in  good  works  and  influence. 
The  missionary  institute  of  Mrs.  Carruthers,  in 
Tokio,  must  not  be  forgotten.  Foreign  com- 
munities were  supplied  with  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel.  An  address  of  the  missionaries 
setting  forth  the  state  of  the  country  and  con- 
dition of  the  work,  and  sent  to  Christian  lands 
n  1866,  was  a  noteworthy  event.  The  organi- 
zation of  the  First  Japanese  Christian  church 
on  March  10,  1872,  consisting  of  nine  young 
men  and  two  middle-aged  men,  the  elder,  Mr. 
Ogawa,  living  to  do  veteran  service,  was  the 
crowning  incident  of  the  period.  The  second 
church  was  organized  at  Kobe,  April  19,  1874, 
and  the  third  at  Osaka,  in  May  of  the  same  year. 

Tlie  story  of  Wakasa,  one  of  the  first  Chris- 
tian converts,  who  from  a  Bible  found  floating 
on  the  water,  learned  of  Christ,  has  been  often 
told.  Wliile  he  suffered  at  the  hands  of  the 
Yedo  government  only  nominal  punishment,  the 
teaclier  of  Dr.  Gulick  was  thrown  into  prison, 
where  he  died.  In  various  ways  the  first  fol- 
lowers of  Clirist  in  Japan  suffered. 

Opening  of  the  Second  Period.  —  Thus  the  first 
decade,  which  began  amid  murderous  hatreds 
and  oppositions,  and  in  an  intellectual  climate 
frigid  and  menacing,  ended  in  what  may  be 
called  a  perceptible  degree  of  mental  enlighten- 
ment with  some  slight  warmth  of  welcome.  The 
year  1873  opened  unexpectedly  to  the  mission- 
aries in  a  way  that  made  a  Christian  Sabbath 
among  the  possibilities.    The  old  lunar  calendar, 


164  DUX  CHRISTUS 

adopted  from  China  and  in  every  other  land 
where  used  except  Japan  a  token  of  political 
vassalage,  was  abolished  in  favor  of  the  solar 
calendar  and  the  methods  of  time-keeping  in 
Japan  were  brought  into  harmony  with  the  rest 
of  the  civilized  world,  except  Russia.  The  Julian 
instead  of  the  Gregorian  calendar  was  made  com- 
pulsory. In  this  we  see  one  of  several  steps  of 
progress  in  which  the  Japanese  are  ahead  of  the 
Muscovites.  Much  confusion  and  social  disturb- 
ance, such  as  the  use  of  an  intercalary  month 
every  third  year,  was  thus  avoided,  though  the 
old  custom  of  having  Nengo  or  year  periods  was 
preserved.  That  in  which  the  present  Japanese 
lives,  dating  from  1868,  or  the  enthronement  of 
the  present  Mikado,  is  named  Meiji,  or  enlight- 
ened civilization.  Japan  was  not  yet  prepared 
to  use  the  term  "Anno  Domini."  Those  who 
would  study  the  subject  of  Japanese  time-keep- 
ing thoroughly  must  consult  Mr.  William  Bram- 
son's  splendid  book  on  Japanese  chronology, 
and  enjoy  also  Professor  E.  W.  Clement's  paper 
in  the  Asiatic  Society's  Transactions.  Very 
foolishly  the  Japanese,  aping  European  prece- 
dents, use  the  word  "  emperor  "  rather  than  the 
ancient  and  honorable  term  "mikado."  The 
title  "mikado,"  intrenched  in  the  English  lan- 
guage, besides  being  unique,  is  august  and  im- 
pressive by  its  very  associations,  while  uniquely 
characteristic  of  Japan  and  Japan  only. 

The  Calendar  of  Christendom. — New  Year's 
Day,  1873,  was  the  first  of  the  first  month  of  the 
sixth  year  of  Meiji.      On  February  19,  1873, 


MODERN  CURISTIAN  MISSIONS  165 

some  of  the  missionaries,  as  they  took  their 
morning  walks,  noticed  that  the  bulltitin  boards 
(Jcosatsu)  containing  the  anti-Christian  edicts 
which  had  hung  for  centuries  in  their  frames  on 
roofed  phitforras,  had  been  removed.  Indeed 
they  positively  "glared  by  their  absence."  The 
government  took  pains  to  say  to  the  pagan  fire- 
eaters  that  it  was  not  meant  by  this  to  proclaim 
religious  toleration.  Nevertheless,  as  the  prov- 
erb says,  "Proof  is  better  than  argument." 
Although  the  Japanese,  far  less  than  the  Chinese, 
care  about  "  saving  the  face  of  a  thing,"  and  the 
men  of  tlie  new  government,  in  contrast  with  the 
fraud  and  deception  of  the  old  Yedo  system,  were 
becoming  stalwartly  fran-k  and  open,  yet  the 
people  got  the  idea  that  liberty  of  conscience 
was  henceforth  to  be  allowed.  They  argued 
that  removal  of  the  edict  boards  virtually 
amounted  to  religious  liberty.  Time  has  proved 
that  they  were  right.  It  seemed  swift  moral 
progress  that  within  five  years  after  Yokoi  had 
been  assassinated  in  Kioto  for  pleading  for  relig- 
ious freedom,  his  contention  should  be  in  sub- 
stance allowed.  In  1889,  the  letter  of  the 
written  constitution  went  far  ahead  of  Russia 
and  the  old  papal  countries  in  guaranteeing 
liberty  of  conscience. 

Already  an  imperial  decree  disestablishing 
the  sects  of  Buddhism  had  been  issued  on  Feb- 
ruary 23,  1871.  The  subject  in  Tokio  was 
highly  illuminated  with  a  costly  and  sacrificial 
fire,  as  I  well  remember,  when  the  letter  of  the 
law  was  enforced  as  to  the  Shiba  shrines.     In 


166  DUX  CHRISTUS 

anger  and  revenge,  and  in  insult  to  the  govern- 
ment, as  is  believed,  some  fanatical  boiize  applied 
the  torch  to  the  most  gorgeous  of  the  group  of 
grand  temples,  which,  when  the  morning  sun 
rose,  was  a  level  waste  of  ashes. 

Since  the  first  Protestant  Church  at  Yokohama 
had  been  organized  openly,  with  no  attempt  at 
secrecy,  it  seemed  clear  that  religious  toleration, 
a  mighty  step  toward  a  higher  civilization,  had 
been  taken  as  matter  of  fact.  Henceforward 
there  was  no  direct  opposition  from  the  author- 
ities, although  the  Roman  Catholic  Christian 
prisoners  (charged  also  with  technical  viola- 
tions of  the  law)  were  not  released  until  the 
spring  of  1878. 

The  Imperial  Embassy  around  the  World.  — 
The  great  embassy  of  nobles,  cabinet  officers, 
secretaries,  and  attendants,  numbering  about 
seventy  in  all,  had  been  first  suggested  and 
its  route  planned  by  Dr.  Verbeck  long  before 
it  took  place.  When  the  roster  was  com- 
pleted and  handed  to  him,  he  found  that  more 
than  one-half  of  the  names  were  those  of  his 
former  pupils,  whom  he  had  instructed  at  Naga- 
saki. Significant  and  innovating  was  the  de- 
spatch, at  the  same  time,  of  six  young  ladies 
to  America  to  be  educated.  Of  these,  two  who 
studied  at  Vassar  College,  Miss  Yamakawa, 
now  Mrs.  Oyama,  wife  of  the  field-marshal 
and  minister  of  war,  Oyama,  Miss  Nagai, 
wife  of  Rear  Admiral  Uriu,  and  Miss  Unie 
Tsuda,  whose  parents  were  among  the  first  in 
the  Methodist  Church  in  Tokio,  are  well  known 


MODERN   CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  167 

as  having  been  leaders  in  society  and  woman's 
advancement  in  Japan.  The  embassy  left  Japan 
December  23,  1871,  and  had  audience  in  the 
White  House  in  Washington  of  General  U.  S. 
(irant,  "  the  first  President  of  the  Free  Repub- 
lic." The  ambassador,  Iwakura,  a  court  noble 
of  immemorial  lineage,  Okubo  "the  brain,''  and 
Kido  "the  pen,"  of  the  revolution  of  1868,  Ito 
( now  Marquis),  "  Father  of  the  Constitution," 
and  since  five  times  premier  of  the  empire, 
witli  Yamaguchi,  Minister  of  Interior,  were 
there.  They  were  accompanied  by  commis- 
sioners representing  every  government  depart- 
ment sent  to  study  and  report  upon  the  methods 
and  resources  of  foreign  civilization.  After  a 
prolonged  sojourn  in  the  United  States  the 
embassy,  having  leisurely  traversed  Europe, 
returned  September  13,  1873.  Later  the  offi- 
cial account  of  tlie  travels  of  its  members  was 
publislied  by  order  of  the  Great  Council  of  the 
Government.  This  book  of  2110  pages,  printed 
on  foreign  paper,  fully  illustrated  and  entitled 
"  A  True  Relation  of  Sights  and  Scenes  in 
America  and  Europe,  in  1872-3,"  had  a  tre- 
mcmdous  influence  in  turning  the  minds  of 
influential  men  favorably  to  the  civilization 
of  the  West.  It  reenforced  what  had  already 
been  told  tlieir  countrymen  by  Nakamura  and 
by  Fukuzawa,  two  of  the  earliest  travellers 
abroad,  Avhose  eyes  and  pens  were  sharp.  Of 
the  many  books  of  Fukuzawa.  one  of  the  ardent 
apostles  of  reform  in  every  direction,  the  sales 
reached  four  millions.     From  the  profits  of  his 


168  DUX  CHRISTUS 

pen  he  established  a  school  which  grew  into  a 
university.  Nakamura,  whose  bold  plea  for 
freedom  of  religion  and  in  favor  of  Christian- 
ity created  a  tremendous  sensation,  founded  a 
school  and  was  a  powerful  influence  in  political, 
ethical,  and  religious  reform. 

The  New  Testament  in  Japanese.  —  The  New 
Testament  translation  committee,  appointed  on 
December  6,  1872,  began  this  year  its  work, 
which  was  happily  finished  in  1880.  Whereas 
during  the  first  period  (1859-1873)  there  had 
come  to  Japan  thirty-one  missionaries,  there 
arrived  in  the  single  year  of  1873  twenty-nine. 
This  great  reenforcement  was  largely  the  fruit 
of  the  evidence  afforded  to  a  grateful  Chris- 
tendom, through  the  formation  of  a  Christian 
Church,  that  the  Japanese  field  was  ready  for 
the  harvest.  The  American  Mission  was  reen- 
forced,  as  were  also  the  Baptist  and  English 
Church  Missionary  Societies  at  Nagasaki.  The 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  U.S.A.,  had  early 
in  November,  1872,  decided  to  establish  a  mis- 
sion, and  the  staff  of  five  pioneers,  the  senior 
member,  Rev.  R.  S.  Maclay,  having  had  ex- 
perience in  China,  arrived  in  June,  1873.  At 
their  meeting  in  August,  Bishop  W.  L.  Harris 
presided.  The  Canadian  Methodists  arrived  on 
the  ground  the  same  year,  as  did  likewise  the 
members  of  the  English  brethren  of  the  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel. 

On  the  afternoon  of  April  9,  1880,  the  native 
church  edifice  in  Tokio  was  filled  to  the  doors 
by  an  elect  audience,  gathered  to  celebrate  the 


MODERN  CHIilSTIAX  MISSIONS  169 

completion  of  the  translation  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment into  the  Japanese  language.  Two  hand- 
somely bound  volumes  stood  side  by  side  on  the 
table,  with  a  large  copy  of  the  Scriptures  in 
English  on  the  speaker's  desk  — "  fit  emblem 
of  the  true  accord  that  it  is  hoped  will  ever  be 
maintained  between  the  Japanese  and  English- 
speaking  peoples."  Representatives  of  four- 
teen missionary  societies  in  English-speaking 
countries  and  of  all  tlie  Protestant  churches  in 
the  capital  were  present,  but  most  of  the  pro- 
ceedings were  in  Japanese.  In  Dr.  Dennis's 
'•  Christian  Missions  and  Social  Progress,"  one 
may  see  in  conspectus  the  evolution  through 
varied  forms  of  the  completed  translation  of 
the  Bible  into  Japanese.  This  latter  work, 
said  an  English  editor  in  Yokohama,  was  "  like 
building  a  railway  through  the  national  intel- 
lect." 

Christ  published  to  the  Nation.  —  Japanese 
native  Christians  had  been  for  some  time  desir- 
ous of  giving  a  public  demonstration,  somewhat 
in  the  style  of  an  American  camp-meeting,  Lo 
bring  the  gospel  before  the  people  at  large  and 
to  show  the  uninformed  what  progress  had  been 
made.  After  wide  advertisement,  on  October 
13,  1872,  a  beautiful  day  in  autumn,  at  the 
edge  of  the  Uyeno  public  park,  on  part  of  tlie 
ground  of  the  great  battle-field  of  18G8,  Japanese 
and  foreign  Christians,  preachers  and  laymen, 
assembled  for  congratulation  and  social  enjoy- 
ment, with  music  and  addresses.  All  round 
tliis  place   of  meeting,  in  the  gardens  of  the 


170  DUX  CHRISTUS 

famous  rural  restaurant  in  the  park  were  bronze 
Buddhas,  and  on  the  island  in  the  pretty  little 
lake  was  the  temple  of  Benten,  goddess  of  the 
sea  and  sailors.  During  the  day  several  thou- 
sand people  heard  the  gospel  for  the  first  time. 
In  the  crowd  were,  besides  Buddhist  priests, 
men  of  the  higher  and  official  classes.  The 
next  day  the  Japanese  newspapers  had  a  full 
account  of  this  most  successful  affair,  which 
was  often  and  happily  referred  to  among  Jap- 
anese Christians  for  months  afterwards. 

Unity  of  Christians  in  Work.  —  It  would  seem 
as  though  the  prayer  and  desire  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  for  his  followers  "  that  they  may  be  one  " 
may  be  fulfilled  in  the  mission  field  even  sooner 
than  in  the  old  home  lands.  Happily  in  Japan 
the  larger  missions  are  affiliated,  according  to 
their  forms  or  orders,  such  as  the  Episcopalian, 
the  Presbyterian,  Methodist,  and  Baptist  groups. 
For  example,  the  English-speaking  churches 
(Episcopal)  of  England  and  America  have 
formed  the  Nippon  Sei  Kokwai.  There  are 
now  six  bishops,  while  the  venerable  Dr.  C.  M. 
Williams,  after  a  bishopdom  of  over  twenty-five 
years,  still  continues  his  labors  as  an  honorary 
missionary.  In  "  Japan  as  We  saw  It "  by  the 
(author  of  the  poem  "  Yesterday,  To-day,  and 
Forever")  father  of  the  late  honored  Bishop  Bick- 
ersteth,  and  in  "Rambles  in  Japan"  by  Canon 
Tristram,  we  have  most  interesting  glimpses  of 
the  work  of  the  English  brethren.  One  of  these, 
the  venerable  Archdeacon  Shaw,  made  so  noble 
a  record  of  saintly  service  during  over  twenty- 


MODERN   CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  171 

five  years  in  Tokio,  that  the  Japanese  speak  of 
him  as  one  of  the  Sanji,  or  "  Three  Wise  and 
(xreat  Friends  of  Japan,"  the  other  two  being 
Hepburn  and  Verbeck.  The  cathedral,  church 
edifices,  schoolhouses,  dispensaries,  and  hospital 
in  Tokio,  under  the  care  of  this  body  of  missions, 
are  among  tlie  notable  sights  of  the  Japanese 
capital.  The  number  of  Christians  under  their 
care  has  doubled  every  five  years  since  1883, 
the  total  now  being  over  ten  thousand,  well 
provided  with  excellent  schools  and  various 
other  means  of  grace. 

The  Reformed  churches  of  English-speaking 
countries,  which  hold  the  Presbyterian  system 
of  govcnnnent  and  doctrine,  have  six  missions, 
and  with  the  Woman's  Union  Missionary  So- 
ciety constitute  the  Council  of  Missions  coop- 
erating with  the  Church  of  Christ  in  Japan.  It 
meets  annually  for  consultation  and  action.  A 
board  of  Home  Missions  has  been  formed  under 
the  direction  of  the  Synod,  which  now  embodies 
the  results  of  experience  and  has  a  position  of 
financial  independence.  The  members  of  tho 
council  live  in  thirty-six  places  scattered  over 
the  empire,  with  one  hundred  and  sixty  out 
stations. 

In  the  iiaptist  grouj)  of  missions  and  churches, 
after  the  first  four  or  five  pioneers,  few  reenforce- 
ments  came  until  1889.  A  mission  press  was 
established  at  Yokohama.  Dr.  Nathan  Brown, 
veteran  of  Assam,  being  a  firm  believer  in  the 
ascendency  of  kana  and  Romaji,  or  Japanese  in 
Romanized  letters,  printed  much  of  his  work,  in- 


172  DUX  CHRISTUS 

eluding  a  scholarly  version  of  the  New  Testament 
in  Japanese,  in  the  native  script.  He  died  in 
1886.  By  this  time,  however,  the  Japanese  had 
taken  with  enthusiasm  to  printing  with  movable 
types,  and  it  was  found  more  economical  to  em- 
ploy the  native  printers. 

The  Gospel  in  the  Northern  Islands.  — Besides 
evangelical  centres  in  most  of  the  large  cities, 
missionaries  went  in  1891  into  the  liiu  Kiu  Isl- 
ands. It  was  now  time  to  look  to  the  abundance 
of  the  seas.  The  gospel  ship  (^Fukuin  Maru)^ 
of  one  hundred  tons,  was  built  in  Yokohama, 
launched  and  dedicated  September  13,  1899, 
to  carry  the  glad  tidings  to  the  islanders  of  the 
Inland  Sea  and  the  south  of  Japan,  under  the 
command  of  Captain  Luke  W.  Bickel.  With  his 
family  and  crew  of  Christian  sailors,  a  noble 
work  has  been  done  in  preaching,  visiting, 
teaching,  holding  evangelistic  services,  and  dis- 
tributing literature  among  the  fishermen  and 
islanders. 

The  mission  of  the  Congregational  churches 
of  the  United  States,  founded  in  1869,  directed 
by  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  of 
Foreign  Missions,  confined  its  work  mostly  to 
the  region  of  Kioto,  and  the  eastern  shores  of  the 
Inland  Sea.  Founded  at  first  by  Joseph  Neesima, 
the  Doshisha  (One  Endeavor  Society)  Univer- 
sity in  Kioto,  the  city  of  3500  temples  and  8000 
priests,  has  had  a  varied  history,  as  set  forth 
by  Dr.  Gordon  and  others.  It  has  educated 
about  10,000  pupils  and  "  has  changed  the 
history  of  Japan."     Kataoka,  its  late  president. 


MODEEN   CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  173 

v,-as  an  eminent  and  zealous  Christian,  and  for 
many  years  speaker  of  the  Lower  House  of 
tlie  Imperial  Diet.  Mr.  K.  Shimomura,  an  alum- 
nus of  high  sacrifice,  attainments,  and  Christian 
character,  is  now  at  the  head  of  affairs. 

The  native  churches  under  the  care  of  the 
American  Board  grew  up  without  any  denomi- 
national name,  but  in  1886,  with  considerable 
reluctance,  they  chose  a  name,  the  Kumi-ai  or 
Associated  Churclies.  For  various  reasons,  pos- 
sibly because  most  completely  "  divested  of 
foreign  regimentals,"  this  body  of  churches  has 
been  tlie  one  most  affected  by  the  adverse  in- 
fluences of  recent  years,  while  probably  not  the 
least  effective  in  leavening  the  nation  at  large. 
Yet  there  lias  been  great  growth  in  membership 
and  strengtli.  The  Japanese  Home  Missionary 
Society  decided,  in  1895,  to  receive  no  more 
foreign  funds,  and  is  now  carrying  on  its 
work  in  eight  cities  with  native  contributions. 
Founded  in  1878,  its  twenty-fifth  anniversary 
was  celebrated  in  January,  1904.  With  126 
evangelists  in  its  employ,  and  75  mission  stations, 
served,  17  of  its  enterprises  are  now  wholly  self- 
suppf)rting  churches.  The  Kumi-ai  churclies 
build  and  pay  for  their  own  houses  of  worship. 

In  the  Methodist  family  of  missions,  which 
began  work  under  Dr.  R.  S.  Maclay  of  Foo- 
chow,  China,  in  1873,  are  united  for  work  the 
missions  of  the  Methodist  Church  in  Canada, 
the  Evangelical  Association,  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  the  Methodist  E])iscopal 
Church  South.    In  1884:  the  Japan  annual  Con- 


174  DUX  CHRISTUS 

ference,  comprising  nearly  a  thousand  church- 
members,  was  organized.  In  1898,  the  twenty- 
fifth  anniversary  of  the  work  in  Japan  was 
celebrated,  and  at  Nagasaki,  in  1899,  the  South 
Japan  Conference  with  over  seven  hundred 
members,  some  being  from  Formosa  and  Riu 
Kiu,  held  its  first  session.  The  Methodist  Pub- 
lishing House  for  the  increase  of  Christian  lit- 
erature is  one  of  the  features  of  the  capital.  In 
1898,  the  annual  conference  was  divided  into 
two  bodies,  according  to  their  fields  in  the  north 
and  south.  The  spirit  of  self-support  has  been 
finely  developed. 

Auxiliary  Workers.  —  Other  bodies  of  Chris- 
tians earnestly  working  in  the  empire  are  those 
under  the  American  Christian  Mission,  the 
Church  of  Christ  Mission,  the  Christian  Catho- 
lic Church  in  Zion,  the  Christian  and  Mission- 
ary Alliance,  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Mission, 
the  General  Evangelical  Protestant  Missionary 
Society  (German  and  Swiss),  and  Hephzibah 
Faith  Mission.  The  independent  bodies  are 
the  Scripture  Union  of  Japan,  the  Railway 
Mission,  the  Postal  and  Telegraph  Mission,  the 
Okasaka  Hospital,  the  International  Committee 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of 
Japan,  the  Salvation  Army,  Scandinavia  Alli- 
ance Mission,  the  Mission  Work  for  Seamen  at 
Yokohama  under  the  American  Seaman's  Friend 
Society,  the  Seventh  Day  Adventists'  Mission, 
the  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  in  Japan,  the 
Society  of  Friends'  Mission,  Temperance  Socie- 
ties ;  namely.   Women's  Christian  Temperance 


MODERN  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  175 

Union,  Yokohama  Temperance  Society,  the 
Hokkaido  Temperance  Society,  the  Tokio  Tem- 
perance Society,  the  Tract  Society,  the  United 
Brethren  in  Christ,  the  Universalist  Mission, 
and  several  other  organizations  doing  a  special 
work  for  particular  classes,  each  in  its  way 
toiling  for  the  coming  of  Christ's  kingdom  in 
Japan. 

The  Old  Christian  Story  Repeated.  —  Actual 
experiences  of  Christian  work  and  success  in 
Japan  were  not  as  smooth  and  regular  as  our 
story  might  suggest.  First  there  were  years 
of  patient  waiting,  then  a  rush  of  the  people 
to  liear  the  gospel.  Preaching  places  were 
crowded.  Church  membership  doubled  every 
three  years,  and  self-support  was  almost  in 
sight.  "  The  evangelization  of  Japan  in  a 
single  generation "  was  talked,  written,  and 
printed.  Then  came  sudden  change  and  re- 
action. Patriotism  ran  rampant.  These  were 
the  years  of  fierce  political  excitement  about 
internal  and  foreign  affairs.  The  waves  of 
nationalism  and  Chauvinism  swept  over  the 
land.  ''Japan  for  the  Japanese"  was  the  cry. 
Native  fashions  and  ideas  again  came  into 
vogue.  Confucian  etliics  were  taught  in  the 
government  schools.  For  a  while  it  looked  as 
if  Japan  were  to  return  to  her  hermitage  of 
insular  seclusion  and  the  petty  nationalism  of 
old  days. 

In  a  word  there  was  a  repetition  of  the  Chris- 
tian story  of  the  first  century,  and  perhaps  of 
every  century  of  new  missionary  transforma- 


176  BUX  CHBISTUS 

tion.  Yet  the  wise  gospel  teachers  abated  not 
a  jot  of  heart  or  hope,  but  braced  themselves  to 
the  toils  of  a  long  siege.  Dreams  of  the  imme- 
diate evangelization  of  Japan,  or  conversion  of 
its  people  in  one  generation,  were  dissipated  ; 
but  more  faithful  labors  and  fuller  consecration 
were  entered  upon,  under  the  conviction  thac 
the  religion  of  Jesus  must  win  its  way  in  Japan 
as  in  the  old  Christian  lands,  slowly  but  surely. 
The  casting  out  of  the  dead  records  of  Egypt 
and  the  finding  of  the  sayings  of  Jesus  side  by 
side  with  the  older  favorite  literature,  reveal 
to  us  the  comparative  slowness  with  which  the 
early  Christians  entered  fully  into  their  new 
world  of  ideas.  So  will  it  be  in  Japan.  The 
books  of  Shinto  are  already  fairy-tales,  the  fables 
of  Buddhism  as  nursery  stories  ;  but  the  Word 
of  God  is  as  the  rising  sun.  Instead  of  the 
four  hundred  thousand  pagan  temples  of  former 
times,  there  are  now  many  less  than  half  of 
that  number. 

The  Islands  of  the  Pendant  Tassels.  —  Let  us 
now  look  at  the  outlying  portions  of  the  empire, 
which  have  not  been  so  highly  favored  with 
missionary  effort.  The  name  of  the  Riu  Kiu 
Islands,  as  expressed  by  the  Chinese  characters, 
means  Hanging  Globes,  or  Pendant  Tassels,  for 
they  were  once  considered  as  a  fringe  of  little 
balls  at  the  end  of  China's  vast  robe.  The 
Chinese  writing,  as  the  only  means  of  com- 
munication with  the  outer  world,  was  used  for 
centuries.  Hence  the  people  have  no  alphabet. 
Buddhism,  introduced  in  1281,  was  once  estab- 


MODERN  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  177 

lished  in  the  island,  existing  in  two  sectarian 
forms,  but  few  temples  are  now  left.  An  in- 
scribed bell  given  to  Commodore  Perry,  and 
hung  centuries  ago  in  a  liuddhist  belfry  (prob- 
ably as  a  thing  gladly  got  rid  of  by  the  Con- 
fucian rulers),  is  now  on  the  grounds  of  the 
Annapolis  Naval  Academy.  xlnother  hangs 
in  Wellesley  College  halls.  Although  the 
islanders  had  become  tributary  to  China  in 
1372,  they  sent  tribute  to  the  Japanese  sho- 
gun  in  1451.  Here  was  a  characteristic  speci- 
men of  the  old  dual  sovereignties  in  Asia.  The 
Kiu  Kiuan  foreign  policy  was  summed  up  in 
the  sentence,  "  Courtesy  to  the  East  and  respect 
to  the  West."  In  other  words,  being  like  "a 
shrimp  between  two  whales,"  they  wished  to 
be  swallowed  by  neither.  As  the  Riu  Kiuans 
say,  they  honored  China  as  their  father  and 
Japan  as  their  mother. 

When  Japan,  after  the  Restoration  of  1868, 
asserted  her  full  sovereignty  over  the  islands, 
a  native  embassy  came  to  Tokio  in  1878,  pray- 
ing that  the  dual  sovereignty,  paternal  and  ma- 
ternal, of  China  and  Japan,  might  be  preserved. 
The  Mikado  could  not  receive  such  a  double 
minded  petition.  The  Riu  Kiuan  kinglet,  Sho- 
tai,  twenty-fourth  in  the  succession  from  Shun- 
ten,  was  brought  to  Tokio  as  a  captive,  and  the 
little  archipelago  was  organized  as  a  Japanese 
prefecture  under  the  name  of  Okinawa  Ken. 
Although  the  royal  and  nol)le  part  of  official- 
dom in  the  little  island  kingdom  did  not  relish 
the  change,  since  it  took  away  their  monopoly 


178  BUX  CHBISTUS 

and  privileges,  the  people  received  great  benefit. 
All  the  lines  of  promotion  being  now  open  to 
the  islanders,  they  are  happy  and  contented. 
In  fact,  the  people  are  relieved  from  an  incubus 
of  oppression  that  crushed  out  all  hope  and 
ambition.  Commodore  Perry  writes  of  the  Riu 
Kiu  people,  that  in  all  his  experience  of  many 
countries  he  had  seen  none  that  he  pitied  more. 
The  rulers,  let  us  hope,  for  political  reasons 
only,  fearing  their  masters,  the  Japanese,  and 
knowing  their  hatred  of  Christianity  and  in- 
novation, kept  the  people  from  going  near  the 
missionary,  Dr.  Bettelheim,  who,  as  the  agent 
of  the  Naval  Mission,  landed  at  Napa  in  1846. 
When  Shotai,  the  kinglet,  who  in  the  new  order 
of  Japanese  nobility  ranked  only  as  a  marquis, 
died,  August  19,  1901,  the  last  of  the  dual  sov- 
ereignties of  Asia  came  to  an  end.  Now  that 
missionaries  have  occupied  this  long-deserted 
field,  we  feel  that  we  know  the  Riu  Kiuans 
better.  The  beautiful  little  cemetery  on  the 
rock-bound  coast,  with  its  numerous  graves 
of  European  and  American  officers  and  sailors, 
is  proof  that  Napa  was  often  visited  in  days 
gone  by. 

Centuries  of  oppression  have  crushed  out 
every  particle  of  decision  of  character,  leaving 
the  Riu  Kiuans  a  weak,  spiritless,  and  grovel- 
ling people,  and  much  below  the  Chinese  or 
Japanese.  Ground  between  the  two  mill- 
stones of  their  foreign  masters  and  the  native 
aristocracy,  the  Riu  Kiuans  feared  the  Chi- 
nese, hated  the  Japanese,  and  grovelled  before 


MODERN  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  179 

their  local  rulers.  Now  Christian  people  have 
sounded  the  note  of  hope  —  even  "  the  greatest 
of  all  hopes."  Japanese  evangelists  and  Epis- 
copal and  Baptist  missionaries  have  been  at 
work  in  Christ's  name  for  over  a  decade.  There 
are  Christian  churches,  and  humanity  in  these 
islands  is  being  lifted  up.  With  little  to  build 
on,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  rate  of  moral  ele- 
vation should  be  slow.  The  native  dialect  as 
spoken  by  the  country  people  is  a  great  bar- 
rier to  the  Japanese  evangelists.  Nevertheless 
progress  is  sure. 

Formosa  the  Beautiful.  —  Formosa  is  interest- 
ing in  its  missionary  history,  because  it  is  the 
seat  of  the  operations  of  the  first  systematic 
missionary  effort  of  any  Protestant  country  con- 
ducted on  a  large  scale.  This  was  attempted 
by  the  Dutch,  who  during  a  generation  or  more 
preached  and  taught  and  built  schools,  churches, 
and  settlements,  all  of  which  were  destroyed  by 
the  ferocious  Chinese  pirate  Koxinga,  and  then 
Formosa  was  made  part  of  the  Cliinese  Empire 
in  1688.  The  island  was  but  little  visited  by 
Europeans  during  the  eighteenth  century,  but 
from  about  1840  large  numbers  of  Cliinese  emi- 
grated to  the  island  and  from  the  neigliboring 
Chinese  jjrovince  of  Fukien.  Tlie  Englisli  Pres- 
byterians, having  a  mission  at  Amoy  under  the 
pioneer.  Dr.  Maxwell,  began  the  establishment 
of  one  among  the  Formosans  in  the  south  in 
1860.  The  Roman  Catholics  were  on  the  ground 
in  1859.  The  Canadian  Presbyterians  in  the 
north  began  work  in  1872  under  Dr.  Mackay, 


180  DUX  CHBI8TU8 

whose  amazing  success  is  set  forth  in  the  book 
"  From  Far  Formosa."  It  is  a  story  of  apostolic 
power,  showing  that  God  is  as  willing  and  as 
able  to  bless  his  servants  in  the  twentieth  as  in 
the  first  century.  After  the  war  of  1894-1895, 
Formosa  was  ceded  by  China  to  Japan,  and  far- 
reaching  plans  for  development  and  improve- 
ment of  every  sort  were  inaugurated  and  have 
been  grandly  carried  on  in  the  face  of  tremen- 
dous difficulties.  The  first  thing  to  be  done 
was  to  inaugurate  the  reign  of  cleanliness. 
Chinese  filth  is  proverbial,  and  the  Japanese 
task  was  a  big  one.  Except  missionary  hos- 
pitals there  had  been  none  in  the  island,  but  in 
one  decade  the  Japanese  have  built  a  number 
of  these  institutions  of  mercy.  At  Taihoku, 
which  is  the  Japanese  name  of  Tai-peh,  the 
wonderful  new  and  clean  capital  and  an  object 
lesson  in  Formosa  of  Japanese  modern  civiliza- 
tion, there  are  ten  hospitals,  one  with  fifteen 
specialists  on  its  staff  of  doctors,  with  forty 
trained  nurses.  In  1899  sixty  thousand  cases, 
fourteen  thousand  being  Formosan  Chinese, 
were  treated  by  the  Japanese  doctors.  Plenty 
of  fresh  water  and  drainage,  besides  cheap  jus- 
tice, good  laws,  and  schools,  are  the  gifts  of 
Japan  to  the  Island  Beautiful. 

Davidson,  in  his  great  book  on  Formosa, 
speaking  of  the  Chinese  in  this  island  as  being 
less  conservative  and  more  liberal  than  their 
brethren  on  the  mainland,  says  that  they  look 
with  a  more  kindly  spirit  toward  strangers 
in  general,  and    adds,  "  Without  a  doubt  the 


MODERN   CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  181 

splendid  work  of  the  missionary  bodies  in  the 
island,  who  lived  down  the  disfavor  with  which 
they  were  at  first  regarded,  accounts  to  a  great 
degree  for  the  absence  of  any  strong  anti-foreign 
spirit  among  the  people  at  present."  In  his 
chapter  on  "  Missions,"  after  referring  to  their 
difiiculties,  Davidson  shows  that  "  prior  to  the 
arrival  of  the  Japanese  practically  the  only 
modern  education  available  in  the  islands  was 
through  the  missionaries." 

]Mackay  did  a  wonderful  work  in  healing,  as 
well  as  preaching.  As  the  Chinese  women  are 
adverse  to  male  medical  aid,  Ciiristian  ladies 
have  been  trained  for  special  work  and  have 
liad  notable  success.  The  Catholic  missions 
have  been  especially  successful  in  preventing 
the  murdering  of  girl  babies.  In  a  word,  in  the 
new  Formosa,  the  lamp  of  Ciiristian  hope  burns 
brightly,  and  the  Japanese  pupils  of  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking nations  are  showing  themselves  at 
once  good  colonizers,  and  not  only  rulers,  but 
U[)lifters  of  the  lowly  races  and  peoples. 

The  Canadian  Presbyterian  missionaries  re- 
ported in  1902,  r>0  native  preachers,  24  native 
Bible  women,  1738  native  communicants,  2633 
ba[)tizc(l  members,  GO  chapels  with  medical  dis- 
pensaries attached,  and  1  central  hospital  which 
had  treated  to  date  10,736  patients.  Twenty- 
three  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars  were 
contributed  by  native  Christians. 

Of  the  English  Presbyterian  Mission,  Rev. 
William  Campbell,  historian,  scholar,  and  evan- 
gelist, author  of  "  Missionary  Success  in  For- 


182  DUX  CHRISTUS 

mosa "  and  "  The  Dutch  in  Formosa,"  is  still 
working.  Other  laborers  have  broken  down 
or  given  up  their  lives,  but  new  reenforcements 
have  come.  With  77  places  of  worship,  the 
contributions  of  natives  in  1900  were  ^6823. 
They  support  a  foreign  mission  among  the 
Pescadores  Islands.  The  communicants  num- 
bered 2019,  besides  1660  baptized  children,  or  a 
total  of  10,758  adherents.  The  Missionary 
School  and  Theological  College  is  at  Tai 
Nan  Fu.  Rev.  Mr.  Campbell's  School  for  the 
Blind,  founded  by  him,  was  taken  up  by  the 
Japanese  and  its  work  continued.  A  mission 
paper  in  Romanized  Chinese,  the  first  news- 
paper on  the  island,  is  published,  besides  other 
Chinese  Christian  literature.  As  a  remarkable 
instance  of  the  persistence  of  Christian  faith 
and  truth,  we  note  that  the  first  ordination  to 
the  Christian  ministry  of  a  native  Formosan 
was  that  of  one  whose  ancestors  had  been  taught 
by  the  Dutch  missionaries  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. 

The  Ainos  of  Yezo.  —  The  Ainos  of  Yezo,  the 
aborigines  and  possible  "  forebears  "  of  the  mass 
of  the  Japanese  people,  have  not  been  forgotten. 
Rev.  W.  Dening,  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  of  England,  living  in  Hakodate,  was 
the  first  to  tell  them  the  good  news  of  God. 
The  Rev.  James  Batchelor  of  the  C.  H.  S. 
visited  these  people  in  1878,  and  was  regularly 
appointed  to  the  work  in  1882,  since  which 
time  he  has  given  to  the  world  in  his  books  a 
wealth  of  information  relating  to  these  people 


MODERN  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  183 

as  well  as  the  gospel  to  them.  He  has  organ- 
ized Christian  churches,  and  translated  into 
their  language  the  Bible  and  Christian  litera- 
ture. The  first  convert  was  baptized  on  Christ- 
mas Day,  1885.  Others,  by  twos  and  threes, 
took  up  their  cross,  but  in  1893  there  was  an 
ingathering  of  171  souls,  and  in  1900,  1150 
Christian  Ainos  were  enrolled. 

Preaching  to  the  Aino  was  at  first  "  like 
walking  on  thin  ice."  The  greatest  care  was 
necessary  lest  the  teller  of  the  Christ  story 
should  ruthlessly  trample  on  some  superstition 
or  other,  or  offend  in  etiquette,  tradition,  or 
religious  custom.  Yet  as  every  missionary 
with  a  spiritual  discernment  notices,  God  in 
his  great  mercy  did  not  leave  even  the  Aino 
without  light.  Without  showing  surprise  at 
what  he  saw  or  casting  any  reflection  upon  the 
absurdity  of  it,  Mr.  Batchelor  proceeded  to  tell 
the  gospel  story  as  the  feeble  intellect  of  the 
Ainos  could  bear.  He  searched  also  for  truth 
in  the  Aino  religion,  and,  when  finding  it, 
instead  of  uprooting  it,  he  gave  it  nurture.  As 
he  says,  ''Truth  is  eternal,  and  one  truth  can 
never  be  contrary  to  another,  wherever  seen  or 
however  much  it  may  be  covered  up."  Making 
friends  of  certain  of  the  villagers,  Mr.  Batchelor 
gradually  made  progress.  He  would  not 
destroy  the  idea  of  communion  with  God,  even 
when  expressed  in  so  low  a  form  as  the  bear 
sacrifice.  The  Ainos  are  great  lovers  of  alco- 
holic liquors,  and  much  given  to  drunkenness. 
It  was  shown  that  Paul  had  said  to  be  "  filled," 


184  DUX  CHBISTUS 

not  with  wine,  but  with  the  Spirit,  and  so  the 
festival  of  slaying,  eating,  and  communing  with 
the  bear  was  dropped,  and  the  new  man  in  his 
heart  feeds  on  God  by  faith,  partaking  of  the 
bread  and  wine  of  the  Eucharist.  Thus  the 
chief  ritual  act  in  the  Aino's  debased  religion, 
and  in  the  enlightened  Christian  worship,  is  in 
its  idea  one,  but,  oh,  with  what  a  difference  ! 
Surely  we  ought  never  to  despise  the  pagans, 
for  they  are  doing  the  best  they  can,  perhaps  as 
well,  according  to  their  lights,  as  we  are.  Evi- 
dently also  by  studying  another's  religion,  we 
are  better  able  to  understand  our  own.  In 
place  of  contempt  we  ought  to  pity  and  give 
more  light  and  truth.  Like  Jesus  we  must 
come  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil. 

The  Universal  Gospel  and  the  Universal 
Need.  —  Tlie  evangelist  among  the  Ainos  finds 
no  more  real  difficulty  in  preaching  to  the 
sinners  of  Yezo  than  to  the  sinners  in  Tokio, 
for  the  idea  of  sin  is  not  pleasant  to  either.  To 
both  the  general  idea  of  sin  is  that  of  breach  of 
etiquette,  or  transgression  against  human  law. 
Unless  the  preacher  in  the  metropolis  or  in  the 
savage  country  is  very  careful  in  the  use  of  terms, 
the  hearer  goes  away  only  with  the  idea  that  the 
preacher  lias  violated  the  laws  of  politeness,  and 
that  the  pot  has  called  the  kettle  black,  for  the 
terms  "  holy  "  and  "  holiness  "  are  not  very  well 
understood  in  their  personal  sense.  Happily,  in 
the  case  of  the  Japanese,  a  large  number  of  na- 
tive preachers,  trained  by  skilful  missionaries 
or  in  the  schools  of  Christian  lands,  can  talk  in 


MODERN  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  185 

their  own  tongue  to  their  people  of  the  wonder- 
ful work  of  God  and  unfold  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  Christ.  Thougli  the  Aino  race  and 
language  are  dying  out,  English  Christianity 
has  done  a  most  noble,  even  Christlike,  work  in 
bringing  salvation  to  the  individual  and  a  sun- 
set glory  to  this  dying  race.  The  Japanese  gov- 
ernment is  also  doing  what  is  possible,  through 
secular  education,  to  lift  up  the  survivors  of  a 
dwindling  race,  whose  names  linger  on  the  land- 
scape of  Japan,  like  those  of  Iroquois  and  Algon- 
quin on  the  mountains  and  rivers  of  our  own 
laud. 

The  Many-sided  Work.  —  Thus  in  almost  every 
form  known  t(^  modern  Cliristians  the  gospel  of 
Jesus  is  ])reached  in  many  parts  of  the  empire  of 
Japan.  Acc(n-ding  to  our  Lord's  own  programme 
in  his  final  command  on  earth,  and  his  picture 
of  the  sheep  and  the  goat^  in  judgment,  the 
work  is  carried  on.  In  lookiug  over  the  past, 
and  reserving  for  a  final  (;ha])ter  a  glance  at 
results,  we  do  not  forget  the  present.  At  the 
Osaka  exposition  in  1903,  all  Christiaus  united 
for  work  in  the  (xospel  Hall,  and  influenced  a 
half-million  Ja{)auese,  fifteen  tliousand  of  whom 
promised  in  writing  to  study  furtlier  the  Jesus 
religion.  In  11)04,  as  the  armies  and  navies  of 
Japan  go  forth  to  war  for  life  and  freedom 
against  the  least  civilized  nation  of  Europe,  the 
missionaries,  as  in  1894,  are  ready  with  "provi- 
sions to  sustain  the  mind,"  in  the  form  of  tract, 
scripture  portions,  and  chaplains  in  the  field. 
Christian  unity  grows  apace,  and  the  "Council  of 


186  DUX  CHRISTUS 

Cooperating  Missions,"  formed  in  1903,  promises 
both  wise  economy  of  effort  and  grander  results 
for  the  Master.  Before  summing  up  the  results 
in  a  closing  chapter  let  us  look  at  one,  and  not 
the  least  important,  branch  of  the  general  enter- 
prise, —  woman's  work  for  woman. 


MODERN  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  187 

LITERARY   ILLUSTRATIONS 

MlSTAKKX    ImPKKSSIONS 

One  reason  why  the  .Japanese  have  opposed  Cliristi- 
anity  is  that  they  have  mistakenly  thought  that  it  makes 
light  of  the  favors  and  mercies  which  we  receive  from 
rulers  and  parents.  If  tliey  would  understand  its  real 
teachings  regarding  gratitude  to  God,  tliey  would  gladly 
accept  them. 

If  they  are  taught  that  the  chief  purpose  of  prayer  is 
to  express  our  gratitude  to  God,  and  to  walk  in  the  way 
of  righteousness  is  to  requite  the  favors  of  Heaven,  there 
is  not  one  who  will  fail  to  understand  such  teaching. 

—  Rkv.  T.  IIarada. 


No  Real  Reaction 


In  any  caso>,  and  whatever  its  shortcomings,  this  oli- 
garchy (of  the  "elder  statesmen")  has  guided  Japan 
with  admirable  skill  and  courage  through  the  perils  of 
the  last  five-and-twenty  years.  The  nation  may  have  — 
probably  has  —  further  changes  in  store  for  it.  One 
thing  is  certain  :  these  changes  will  be  all  along  that  road 
leading  westward  which  the  men  of  18(18  were  the  first 
to  ojxMi  out.  Excellent  persons  from  home,  who  remem- 
ber the  Stuarts  and  the  Legitimists  and  Don  Carlos, 
sometimes  ask  whether  there  may  not  be  a  -Japanese 
reaction  in  favor  of  feudalism.  No,  never  —  not  till  the 
sun  stops  shining  and  water  begins  to  flow  uphill. 

—  I?.    II.    CllAMBEKI.AIN. 


An  Ideal  Field  of  Missions 

If  you  had  been  asked  to  sketch  an  ideal  land,  most 
suitable  for  Christian  Missions,  and  when  itself  Chris- 


188  LUX  CHRISTUS 

tianized  more  suited  for  evangelistic  work  among  the 
nations  of  the  Far  East,  what,  I  ask,  would  be  the  special 
characteristics  of  the  land  and  people  that  you  would 
have  desired?  Perhaps,  first,  as  Englishmen  or  Irish- 
men, you  would  have  said,  "  Give  us  islands,  inseparably 
and  forever  united,  give  us  islands  which  can  hold  their 
sea-girt  independence,  and  yet  near  enough  to  the  main- 
land to  exert  influence  there."  Such  is  Japan  —  the  Land 
of  the  Rising  Sun.  "  Give  us  a  hardy  race,  not  untrained 
in  war  by  land  and  sea ;  for  a  nation  of  soldiers,  when 
won  for  Christ,  fights  best  under  the  banner  of  the  Cross 
—  for  we  are  of  the  Church  militant  here  on  earth ;  give 
us  brave  men ;  "  and  such  are  the  descendants  of  the  old 
Daimios  and  two-sworded  Samurai  of  Japan.  ...  "  But," 
you  would  also  have  said,  "  give  us  a  race  whose  women 
are  homespun  and  refined,  courteous  and  winsome,  not 
tottering  on  tortured  feet,  nor  immured  in  zenanas 
and  harems,  but  who  freely  mingle  in  social  life,  and 
adorn  all  they  touch,"  and  such,  without  controversy,  are 
the  women  of  Japan.  Above  all,  "give  us  a  reverent 
and  a  religious  people,  who  yet  are  conscious  that  the 
religion  of  their  fathers  is  unsatisfying  and  unreal,  and 
who  are  therefore  ready  to  welcome  the  Christ  of  God," 
and  such  are  the  thoughtful  races  of  Japan. 

—  The  Bishop  of  Exeter. 


Civilization,  not  Christianity 

With  all  these  marks  of  enterprise  and  patriotism,  the 
signs  of  a  general  turning  to  God  among  the  people  are 
sadly  wanting.  There  is  apparent  an  increasing  mate- 
rialism, and  in  some  quarters  a  disposition  to  idealize 
and  clothe  with  divine  honors  the  nation  itself  and  its 
history.  A  work  on  ethics,  indorsed  apparently  by  the 
Education  Department,  has  these  remarks:  "Our  coun- 
try's history  clearly  constitutes  our  Sacred  book  and 
moral  codes.  .  .  .  Our  Sacred  book  is  our  history,  holy 
and  perfect,  the  standard  of  morals  throughout  aU  time, 


MODERN  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  189 

having  not  the  slightest  flaw.  We  have  this  divine 
Sacred  book  of  history;  do  we  need  to  seek  another?" 
Marquis  Ito,  Japan's  leading  statesman,  has  remarked 
that  "Japan  looks  for  the  function  of  religion  being 
fulfilled  by  culture  and  science  and  the  inspiration  of 
knowledge."  Another  well-known  Japanese.  .  .  .  late 
representative  of  his  country  at  the  Court  of  St.  James, 
1  has  advocated  what  he  terms  "  the  religion  of  self-reli- 
ance." The  failure  of  such  religion  is  sufficiently  indi- 
cated by  the  condition  of  the  commercial  world  of  which 
a  sad  picture  is  given  in  the  following  extract  from  a 
missionary's  letter :  — 

••  Tiiere  is  not  only  tlie  general  dishonesty  which  is  so 
marked  a  characteristic  of  Japanese  dealers,  l>ut  also  — 
what  is  i)erhaps  a  more  serious  obstacle  —  the  intentional 
encouragement  of  immorality  as  a  means  of  securing 
business  success.  Clients  are  frequently  invited  to  even- 
ing entertainments  which  develop  into  drunken  orgies, 
with  all  their  inevitable  accompaniments.  Some  have  a 
feeling  that  this  associating  vice  with  business  is  oad.  but 
their  excuse  is  that  active  opposition  would  spell  failure 
for  themselves,  and  tlius  they  sum  up  the  iX)sition  with 
a  fatalistic  phrase  wliich  is  more  commonly  o)i  the  lips 
of  Jai>anes(>  than  any  other,  '  Siiikata  ga  nai '  —  that  is, 
'  There  is  no  helj^  for  it.'  " 

—  Prucecdiiif/s  of  the  Church  Missionnrij  Socicli/.  1002-1903. 


PoWKU    OF    TITF.    Clir.ISTIAXS 

Tlie  steady  influence  which  Christianity  is  l^eginning  to 
extri,  out  of  all  proportion  to  its  numerical  strength,  is 
also  aiipari'iit  from  the  following  facts  collected  together 
in  till-  }f!s^i),)i/ir>/  Revie'r  nf  the  World  for  March  last 
(1)  The  Ciiristians  liave  never  had  less  than  four  times 
their  proportional  number  of  members  in  the  successive 
Diets.  (J)  They  have  thirteen  members,  besides  the 
speaker,  in  the  present  I)i^'t.  and  among  them  some  pf 
the  most  eflicient  men.     One  of  them  was  elected  in  a 


190  DUX  CHRISTUS 

strongly  Buddhist  district  by  a  majority  of  five  to  one. 
(:3)  Three  per  cent  of  the  officers  of  the  army  are  said 
to  be  Christians,  and  a  goodly  proportion  also  of  naval 
officers,  (i)  Christians  abound  in  abnormal  numbers 
in  the  universities  and  Government  colleges,  among  both 
students  and  instructors.  (.5)  Not  less  than  three  of  the 
great  daily  newspapers  of  Tokio  are  largely  in  Christian 
hands,  and  Christians  are  at  the  head  of  editorial  depart- 
ments in  several  others.  (6)  A  very  large  volume  of 
charitable  work,  and  the  most  successful  charitable  insti- 
tutions, are  also  under  Christian  management. 

—  Proceedings  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  1902-1903. 


Signs  of  Promise  in  Formosa 

The  population  [of  Formosa]  is,  according  to  most  re- 
cent notices,  2,697,845  Chinese,  33,120  Japanese,  and,  it 
is  said,  120,000  aborigines.  The  Japanese  are  striving 
to  educate  the  Chinese,  to  develop  the  resources  of  the 
country,  and  to  bring  civilization  and  firm  rule  every- 
where. That  they  are  not  unaware  of  the  advantage  and 
of  the  need  of  religion  is  shown  both  by  their  attitude  to 
all  present  endeavors  to  evangelize  the  country,  and  also 
by  their  having  offered  free  passes  on  railways  to  all 
missionaries  of  whatever  body  (Christian,  Buddhist,  or 
Shinto).  The  feeling  of  the  Japanese  toward  Christianity 
has  experienced  a  vast  change.  Large  audiences  readily 
gather  to  hear  Christian  preaching. 

—  Report  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in 
Foreign  Parts,  1902. 


The  Christian  Samurai 


Loyalty  and  filial  piety  demand  from  us  nothing  short 
of  complete  surrender  of  ourselves  to  our  master  or  pa'"- 
ents.     It  is  the  spirit  of  not  living  unto  one's  self,  but 


MODERN   CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  191 

unto  our  superiors.  The  samurai  considered  it  a  matter 
of  course  that  he  sliould  die  fighting  in  front  of  his  lord's 
house.  That  liis  life  was  not  his  own  was  his  firm  con- 
viction. 

We  may  well  say  that  the  spirit  of  the  ancient  Bushi 
in  his  relation  to  his  lord  was  essentially  the  same  as  that 
expressed  by  the  apostle's  words,  "  For  none  of  us  liveth 
to  himself,  and  no  man  dieth  to  himself;  for  whether  we 
live  we  live  unto  the  Lord;  and  whether  we  die  we  die 
unto  the  Lord,  whether  we  live  therefore  or  whether  we 
die  we  are  the  Lord's."  The  essential  spirit  cannot  dif- 
fer; there  can  only  be  .a  higher  or  a  lower,  a  noble  or  a 
less  noble  object  of  attachment.  If  this  spirit  is  devel- 
oped by  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  it  will  become  toward 
God  the  spirit  of  loyalty  and  filial  devotion,  and  toward 
man  that  spirit  of  benevolence  which  gives  itself  for  the 
welfare  of  mankind.  Jesus  Christ  said,  "  I  am  not  come 
to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil."  Christianity,  I  believe,  is  to 
develop  such  virtues,  is  to  ennoble  them,  is  to  lead  them 
on  to  perfection.  —  Kkv.  T.  IIar.a.da. 


ClIUIST    OUK    P^XAMPLE 

The  life  of  Christ  is  an  example  of  the  victory  of  giri 
{sense  of  duty)  over  ninjo  (natui'al  feelings).  The  temp- 
tations of  Satan  were  all  directed  toward  the  natural 
feeling  of  Christ  as  a  man  ;  but  Cin'ist,  discerning  clearly 
what  duty  demanded,  overcame  them.  Again,  when 
Christ  prayed,  "O  my  father,  if  it  be  possible  let  this 
cuj)  pass  from  me,"  he  gave  expression  to  his  natural 
feelings;  but  when  he  added,  "  Nevertheless  not  as  I  will 
but  as  thou  wilt,"  he  conquered  them  by  his  sense  of 
duty.  This  is  an  explanation  which  1  think  is  readily 
understood  by  the  Japanese.  —  Rkv.  T.  Hakada. 


COXKI.KT    OK    DlTlKS 


What  moves  the  .Jajianese  in  novels  or  theatrical  plays 
iiro  those  scenes  in  which  the  conflict  between  the  yiri 


192  DUX  CHRISTUS 

(sense  of  duty)  and  the  ninjo  (natural  feelings)  are  rep- 
resented. "  If  you  obey  the  dictates  of  the  former,  you 
cannot  obey  the  latter;  if  you  obey  the  latter,  you  cannot 
obey  the  former ;  standing  between  giri  and  nasake  (be- 
tween duty  and  natural  affection),  there  is  nothing  left 
but  to  weep."  A  passage  like  this  moves  the  Japanese 
to  tears.  The  scene  in  which  Shigemori  of  the  Taira 
clan  remonstrates  with  his  father  against  his  plan  of  vio- 
lence against  the  emperor  is  one  of  the  passages  in  Japan- 
ese history.  "  If  I  am  loyal,  I  canuot  be  filial ;  if  I  am 
filial  I  cannot  be  loyal,  here  is  my  sore  dilemma."  This 
is  an  example  of  the  conflict  between  giri  and  ninjo. 

—  Rev.  T.  Harada. 


Ethics  and  Industry 


In  some  of  the  larger  Osaka  factories  as  many  as  two 
thousand  girls  live  inside  the  factory  walls,  and  other 
thousands  go  backward  to  their  homes  or  to  lodging 
houses.  In  some  of  these  lodging  houses  men  and  women 
live  together.  Here  are  young  girls  living  among  crowds 
of  rough,  debased,  drunken  men.  In  the  northwest  sec- 
tion of  Kioto,  the  Nishijin  district,  there  are  about  sixty 
thousand  operatives  in  private  silk-weaving  establish- 
ments. A  large  proportion  of  these  are  boys  and  girls, 
principally  girls,  who  are  apprenticed,  sold  by  their 
parents  for  a  few  yen,  for  terras  of  three  years.  Some 
of  the  girls  are  sold  three  times  in  succession,  and  have 
to  endure  this  slavery  nine  years.  They  have  to  work 
fourteen  hours  a  day.  In  many  cases  they  are  compelled 
to  sleep  promiscuously,  boys  and  girls  crowded  together 
on  the  mats  in  the  same  room.  The  results  can  be  im- 
agined. Dr.  Saiki,  an  earnest  Christian  physician,  has 
a  Charity  jMaternit}'  Hospital  in  connection  with  his 
Hospital  and  Training  School  for  Nurses;  and  he  told 
me  a  year  ago  that  during  the  year  he  had  received  into 
that  maternity  hospital  nearly  eighty  of  these  unfortu- 
nate girls,  and  that  he  had  been  called  to  attend  enough 


MODERN  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  193 

of  them  outside  to  make  more  than  one  hundred,  and  he 
said  that  these  were  only  a  fraction  of  the  whole.  Until 
recently  nearly  all  these  children  have  been  put  to  death ; 
but  now,  under  the  Criminal  Code,  this  is  more  difficult. 

—  J.  D.  Davis. 


JOY-BRIXGING    CHRISTIANITY 

Christianity,  by  thus  giving  woman  a  greater  sense  of 
her  own  powers,  by  imparting  to  her  the  fructifying 
truths  of  the  Bible,  and  by  imbuing  her  with  a  noble 
purpose,  has  already  proved  itself  to  thousands  of  Jap- 
anese women  a  life-giving  power.  Go  into  any  miscella- 
neous assembly  of  Japanese  women,  and  you  will  find  it 
an  easy  task  to  pick  out  the  Christians  by  their  brighter, 
more  tiiouglitful,  more  purposeful  faces.  In  the  presence 
of  these  noble  and  gracious  Christian  ladies,  the  Japan- 
ese women  represented  by  Sir  Edwin  Arnold's  sensuous 
pen  are  as  inferior  as  they  ought  to  be  offensive. 

M.    L.    GOKDON. 


The  Or.n  Way  in  .Japan 

Have  we  explained  ourselves?  We  would  not  have 
it  thought  that  Japanese  women  are  actually  ill-used. 
There  is  probably  very  little  wife-beating  in  Japan, 
neitlier  is  there  any  zenana  system  —  any  veiling  of  the 
fac(\  Rather  is  it  that  women  are  all  their  lives  treated 
more  or  less  like  babies,  neither  trusted  with  the  inde- 
pendence which  our  modern  manners  allow,  nor  com- 
manding the  romantic  homager  which  was  woman's  dower 
in  inedia'val  Euro]>e  ;  for  Japanese  feudalism  —  so  dif- 
ferent from  the  feudalism  of  the  West  in  all  but  military 
display  —  knew  nothing  of  gallantry.  A  Japanese  knight 
performed  his  valiant  deeds  for  no  such  fanciful  reward 


194  DUX   CHRISTUS 

as  a  lady's  smile.  He  performed  them  out  of  loyalty  to 
his  lord,  or  filial  piety  toward  the  memory  of  his  papa, 
taking  up,  maybe,  the  clan  vendetta,  and  pei'petuating  it. 
Our  own  sympathies,  as  will  be  sufficiently  evident  from 
the  whole  tenor  of  our  remarks,  are  with  those  who  wish 
to  raise  Japanese  women  to  the  position  occupied  by  sis- 
ters in  Western  lands.  —  B.  H.  Chamberlain. 


"  Home,"  the  Creation  of  Christianity 

The  Japanese  really  have  no  such  word  as  "home." 
Until  we  can  teach  them,  by  long  and  patient  effort,  the 
practical  meaning  of  that  holy  word,  they  cannot  have 
entered  the  spiritual  fellowship  of  Christian  nations. 
But  just  as  the  gospel  in  days  of  old  slowly  but  surely 
uplifted  the  nations  of  Europe  by  teaching  tlie  sanctity 
of  childhood,  the  purity  of  womanhood,  and  the  manli- 
ness of  manhood,  so  at  length  the  same  uplifting  power 
will  bring  like  blessings  to  Japan. — J.  A.  B.  Scherer. 


MODERN  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  195 


TIIEIVIES   FOR   STUDY   AND   DISCUSSION 

I.    The    Subten-anean    History    of     Christianity    in 

Japan. 
II.    Bushido:  its  Story,  its  Ideals,  and  its  Survivals. 

III.  The  Christian  ]\Iartyrs  of  Japan. 

IV.  Contrasted  ^Missionary  Ideals  and  Methods  in  Ro- 

man and  Reformed  Christianity. 
V.    The  Place  and  Power  of  the  Bible  in  Missionary 
Efforts,  as  illustrated  in  the  Christian  History  of 
Japan. 
VI.    Are  tlie  Japanese  Creative  or  Imitative?     How  far 
is  this  Trait  Favorable  or  Unfavorable  to  Chris- 
tianity? 
VII.    The  Various  Types  of  ^Missionary  Usefulness. 
VIII.    Missionarv  Biography. 
IX.    Tlie  Thi-ee  General  Conferences. 
X.    Tlie  Tlu-ee  Imperial  Cities,  —  Kioto,  Osaka,  Tokio. 
XI.    ^ledical  Work  among  tlie  Japanese. 
XII.    Music  and  Hymnology  in  Christian  Japan. 


BOOKS   OF   REFERENCE 

Proceedings  of  the  Tokio  Missionary  Conference.    (1901.) 

Tokio.     Methodist  Publishing  House. 
R.  E.  Lewis.     "The  Educational  Conquest  of  the  Fr.r 

East."     (190:i.)     F.  II.  Revell  Co. 
B.    Taylor.     "Japan   in    Our   Day."      (1892.)      Charles 

Scribner's  Sons. 
K.    Uchimura.     "The    Diary   of   a  Japanese    Convert." 

(1S9.').)     F.  H.  Revell  Co. 
W.  E.  OrifFis.     "  Verbeck  of  Japan."     A  Citizen  of  No 

Country.     (1900.)     F.  II.  Revell  Co. 
W.  E.  (irillis.     ".V  Maker  of  the  New  Orient."     Samuel 

Robbins  Brown.     (1902.)     F.  II.  Revell  Co. 
E.W.Clark.     "  Life  and  Adventures  in  Japan."     (1878.) 

American  Tract  Society. 
M.  L.  (iordon.     "An  American   Missionary  in  Japan." 

(1892.)     Houghton,  IMitttin  &  Co. 


196  DUX  CHRISTUS 

M.  Bickersteth.  "Japan  as  We  Saw  It,"     (1893.) 

H.  B.  Tristram.  "Rambles  in  Japan."     (1898.)     F.  H. 

Revell  Co. 

W.  E.  Curtis.  "The   Yankees   of  the  East."     (1896.) 

New  York.  Stone  &  Kimball. 

J.  A.  Scherer.  "Japan   To-day."     (1904.)     J.  B.  Lip- 

pincott  Co. 


CHRONOLOGICAL   FRAMEWORK 

1861     Miss    Caroline   Adriance  in  Japan   for  Woman's 

Work. 
1863     Miss  J.  R.  Conover,  missionary  teacher  at  Kana- 

gawa. 
1867     Mrs.  J.  C.  Hepburn  and  ]\Irs.  J.  IL  Ballagh  teach 

Japanese  girls  at  Yokohama. 
1869     First  single  woman  missionary,  Miss  Mary  Kidder, 

now  Mrs.  E.  R.  Miller,  begins  her  work. 
Mrs.  Carruthers  begins  a  Girls'  School  in  Tokio. 
Two  Christian  Japanese  women  baptized  in  Tokio. 

1871  Tlie  American  Mission  Home,  Yokohama,  estab- 

lished by  Mrs.  Priiyn. 

1872  Baptism   of    four   Christian   Japanese  women   in 

Yokoliama. 

1873  American  Presbyterian  and  Congregational  women 

missionaries  in  Tokio  and  Kobe. 

1874  Episcopal  Girls'  School  in  Osaka. 

Methodist  Girls'  Schools  in  Tokio  and  Yokohama. 

1875  English    Church    Missionary  Society   inaugurate 

work  for  women. 

1880  Training  of   and  work  by  Bible  women  in  full 

activity. 

1881  The  Princess  Sada  born. 

1886     Wonum's  Chi-istian  Temperance  Union  of  Japan 
organized. 
Petition   to    Diet   against   transport   of  Japanese 

women  abroad  for  evil  purposes. 
Agitation  by  Christian  women  against  the  social 
evil. 
1802     Dr.  J.   C.   Berry  begins   the    training   of    women 

nurses. 
1893     National  Woman's  Christian   Temperance  Union 
organized. 
United     Young     People's     Society    of     Christian 
Endeavor. 
1891     Silver  wedding  of  Emperor  and  Empress. 
1895     Rescue   work   for    girls   begun   by  the   Salvation 
Army. 

197 


198 


DUX  CHBISTUS 


Continued  from  page  197. 


1896 
1898 

1900 


1901 
1902 


The  Civil  Code. 

National  Temperance  League  of  Japan  organized 

by  Mrs.  Clara  Parrish. 
Twenty  thousand  Protestant  Christian  women  in 

Japan. 
Twelve  thousand  Japanese  women  released  from 

immoral  slavery. 
Crown  Prince  and  Princess  Sada  married. 
Woman's  University  established  in  Tokio. 
Three  generations  of  Christian  believers  in  Japan. 


CHAPTER   V 

woman's  work  for  Avo]\rA]sr 

Position  of  Woman  under  the  Ethnic  Faiths. 

—  Of  all  the  lines  of  battle  for  Christianity  and 
higher  civilization  in  Japan,  none  is  more  im- 
portant than  that  which  relates  to  the  elevation 
of  woman  —  one-half  of  Japan — and  to  the 
making  of  the  liome  on  the  Christian  model. 
Seeing  this,  we  may  well  introduce  our  general 
sul)ject  by  glancing  at  the  position  of  woman 
in  the  land  poetically  called  the  Princess 
Country. 

Historically  this  is  much  like  that  of  her 
sister  among  the  early  (Tcrmanic  nations,  w^ith 
whom  Japan  shares  in  time  about  the  same 
length  of  career.  It  appears  at  least  probable 
that,  in  the  early  ages,  before  the  Japanese 
were  affected  by  Buddhistic  and  Chinese  influ- 
ences, woman  occupied  relatively  a  much  higher 
plane  than  in  the  later  days,  when  she  was 
rather  degraded  than  exalted  by  the  new 
dogmas  imported  from  India  and  China,  and 
in  the  social  and  ethical  systems  which  were 
develo[)ed  under  priests  and  philosophers.  In 
Japanese  mythology  the  chief  deity  is  a  woman. 
The  custodians  of  the  divine  regalia  (the  three 
symbols  of  heaven-derived  imperial  power, 
199 


200  DUX  CHRISTUS 

mirror,  crystal  sphere,  and  sword)  and  of  many 
of  the  Shinto  shrines  were  priestesses.  In  the 
list  of  one  hundred  and  twenty -three  mikados, 
nine  were  female.  In  literature,  art,  poetry, 
and  song,  the  names  of  women  shine  like  clus- 
tered stars  on  the  national  roll  of  fame  and 
honor.  It  is  to  the  everlasting  glory  of  the 
women,  that  they,  and  not  the  men,  made  the 
Japanese  a  literary  language.  While  learned 
men  gave  themselves  up  to  pedantry  and  use 
of  the  Chinese  script  and  vocabulary,  women 
poets,  novelists,  and  diarists,  by  cultivating 
their  own  more  beautiful,  musical,  and  sono- 
rous tongue,  fitted  it  to  be  the  receptacle  of  the 
literature  that  enshrines  most  distinctively  the 
Japanese  genius.  Thus,  also,  though  all  un- 
consciously, the  mediaeval  ladies  of  the  court 
so  shaped  their  native  language  in  its  develop- 
ment, as  to  enable  it,  eight  hundred  years  later, 
to  receive  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  inspired 
Word  and  to  express  to  the  people  the  good 
news  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus. 

Woman  in  Japanese  History.  —  In  the  records 
of  glory,  valor,  fortitude,  and  affliction,  great- 
ness in  the  hour  of  death,  filial  devotion,  wifely 
affection,  in  all  the  crises  of  life,  when  codes  of 
honor,  morals,  and  religion  are  put  to  the  test, 
the  Japanese  woman  has  held  her  own.  The 
history  of  literature,  romance,  and  the  everyday 
routine  of  facts  show  her  power  and  willing- 
ness to  share  whatever  of  pain  and  sorrow  is 
appointed  to  man.  In  suffering  and  sacrifice 
for  the  cause  of  home,  family,  clan,  country,  and 


woman's  work  for  woman       201 

religion  the  Japanese  woman  has  ever  been  the 
Japanese  man's  helpmeet  for  him.  As  we  have 
written  before,^  "  In  the  annals  of  persecution, 
in  the  red  roll  of  martyrs,  no  names  are  brighter, 
no  faces  gleam  more  peacefully  amid  the  flames 
or  on  the  cross  of  transfixing  spears,  or  on  the 
pyre  of  rice  straw,  or  on  the  precipice's  edge, 
or  in  the  open  grave  about  to  be  filled  up,  than 
the  faces  of  the  Christian  Japanese  women  of 
the  seventeenth  century."  Such  is  the  position 
of  women  in  the  past.  The  twentieth  century 
shows  no  degradation  in  ideal  or  fact,  while  it 
opens  wide  the  gates  of  Christian  hope. 

The  ethical  grade  and  value  of  a  civilization 
may  be  fairly  tested  by  the  position  accorded  to 
woman.  Relatively  with  continental  Asiatics, 
the  Japanese  accord  their  women  a  large  meas- 
ure of  respect  and  consideration.  Foot-binding 
is  not  the  fashion  in  Japan,  and  never  has  been. 
There  are  no  zenanas  or  harems.  Among  the 
middle  and  lower  classes  she  is  almost  as  much 
at  liberty  to  walk  and  visit  as  among  us.  In 
fact,  an  amount  of  social  freedom  prevails  that 
could  hardly  be  expected  in  a  country  that  was 
once  "Asiatic,  idolatrous,  and  despotic."  The 
purely  external  aspects  of  her  dwelling-place 
have  been  treated  with  a  masterly  hand  in 
Edward  A.  Morse's  "Japanese  Homes  and  their 
Surroundings,"  and  in  varying  degrees  of  dis- 
tortion and  misleading  fiction,  written  by  men 
who  see  and  experience  only  the  shadowy  and 

1  See  "  The  Mikado's  Empire,"  chapter  on  "  Position  of 
Women." 


202  DUX  CHRISTUS 

foul  sides  of  the  subject,  that  set  forth  rather 
masculine  sin  and  folly  than  feminine  hope  and 
aspiration.  Occidental  art,  whether  in  poetry, 
prose,  picture,  or  drama,  has  not  yet  done  justice 
to  the  typical  Japanese  woman.  The  shadows 
and  lights  of  the  true  picture  have  been  set 
upon  the  literary  canvas  by  the  master  hand 
of  Miss  Alice  Bacon.  Out  of  her  low  estate 
under  Buddhism  that  tolerated,  and  Confucian- 
ism that  degraded,  womanhood  in  Christian 
Japan  is  rising  into  the  glory  of  a  nobler  life. 

Education  of  the  Japanese  Girl.  —  The  Jap- 
anese girl's  education  from  childhood  is  one 
that  makes  her  pure,  sweet,  and  amiable,  with 
great  power  of  self-control  and  knowledge  of 
what  to  do  upon  all  occasions,  so  that  in  a  cer- 
tain sense  she  is  a  finished  product  at  the  age 
of  sixteen  or  eighteen.  In  a  word,  she  is  just 
what  a  pagan  wants  her  to  be  —  fitted  for  obe- 
dience, subordination,  and  service,  but  not  for 
growth  and  power  to  inspire.  Trained  in  body 
and  mind,  and  accomplished  according  to  her 
station,  it  is  no  wonder  that  Japanese  maidens 
and  wives  have  attracted  the  attention  and 
drawn  forth  the  praises  of  foreign  tourists  and 
writers,  especially  of  those  who  are  more  or  less 
alienated  from  Christian  ideas  and  ways.  Trav- 
ellers of  immoral  life  have  not  usually  been 
sympathetic  with  efforts  of  the  missionary  to 
introduce  different  ideals  and  an  educational 
system  based  on  the  teachings  of  Jesus.  Some 
of  the  vilest  flings  at  their  work  and  the  most 
distorting  caricatures  of  the  missionaries  have 


woman's  work  for  woman       203 

emanated  from  these  men,  who  sometimes  wield 
skilful  pens  and  furnish  piquant  literature. 

Let  us  note  that  the  old  education  of  the 
daughter  of  the  land  was  beautiful  in  many- 
things,  while  sadly  lacking  in  others.  Miss 
Bacon  thus  pictures  the  brighter  side :  "  The 
unconscious  and  beautiful  spirit  of  her  child- 
hood is  not  driven  away  at  the  dawn  of  woman- 
hood by  the  thoughts  of  beaux,  of  coming  out 
in  society,  of  a  brief  career  of  flirtation  and  con- 
quest, and  at  the  end  as  fine  a  marriage,  either 
for  love  or  money,  as  her  imagination  can  pic- 
ture.'' The  normal  Japanese  maiden  takes  no 
thought  of  these  things.  Her  father  theoreti- 
cally, or  her  mother,  perhaps  practically,  will 
by  and  by  attend  to  the  matter  of  bringing 
together  their  daughter  and  some  eligible  young 
man  ;  but  the  selection,  if  made,  will  be  theirs, 
not  hers.  There  is,  theoretically  at  least,  no 
flirtation,  perhaps  very  little  romance.  Think- 
ing of  men  only  as  liigher  beings  to  be  deferred 
to  and  waited  on,  the  Japanese  maiden  pre- 
serves the  childlike  innocence  of  manner, 
combined  with  a  serene  dignity  under  all  cir- 
cumstances, that  is  characteristic  of  the  Japan- 
ese woman. 

The  Japanese,  even  after  pondering  the 
matter  very  deeply,  show  no  great  desire  to 
exchange  quickly  the  native  for  the  foreign 
idea  of  woman,  nor  can  any  lover  of  Japan  wish 
any  sudden  or  violent  destruction  of  the  native 
ideal.  Some  of  their  writers  on  ethical  and 
social  topics  have   expressed    themselves   very 


204  DXTX  CHBI8TU8 

strongly,  and  on  the  whole  reasonably,  on  this 
point ;  nor  must  we  forget  that  the  indigenous 
and  exotic  ideals,  of  even  physical  beauty,  are 
as  far  apart  as  the  sunrise  from  sunset.  It 
would  lower  our  own  conceit  immensely,  were 
we  to  see  ourselves  as  the  Japanese  see  us.  If 
sweet  temper  and  attractiveness,  patience  and 
faithfulness  to  "  the  three  obediences,"  to  parent, 
husband,  and  as  widow  to  her  oldest  son,  were 
all,  the  case  might  end  here.  But  there  is  much 
more  to  be  said.  The  daughter  of  the  Japanese 
family  has,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  but  little  de- 
velopment of  her  higher  nature,  very  little 
uplifting  indeed  of  the  soul  into  the  atmosphere 
above  the  routine  of  daily  life.  On  the  other 
hand,  her  master,  man,  pushing  the  principle  of 
feminine  obedience  to  the  serving  of  his  own 
selfishness,  crushes  out,  by  trampling  upon,  the 
most  noble  of  feminine  instincts.  To  satisfy 
his  own  needs,  he  degrades  a  glorious  principle 
into  the  depths  of  damnable  abomination.  A 
father  in  debt,  an  ambitious  brother  to  get  an 
education  in  order  to  win  office,  will  sell  the 
body  of  daughter  or  sister,  even  as  the  beasts 
are  sold.  Horrible  is  the  significant  proverb, 
"  A  father  with  many  daughters  need  not  fear 
poverty  in  old  age." 

The  Shadow  on  Japanese  Womanhood.  —  Usu- 
ally with  her  childhood,  the  happiest  period  in 
the  life  of  a  Japanese  woman  closes.  Just  when 
her  mind  is  broadening  and  her  hunger  for 
knowledge  and  self-improvement  increases,  the 
clamps  are  put  on.     The   chattel  is   removed 


woman's  work  fob  woman       205 

from  one  family  to  another.  In  Mitford's 
"  Tales  of  Old  Japan,"  and  in  Dr.  H.  C.  Trum- 
bull's "  The  Threshold  Covenant,"  we  have 
the  fact  and  the  philosophy  of  marital  rites. 
To  become  a  wife  is  to  be  a  daughter-in-law, 
—  which  name  is  too  often  synonymous  with 
drudge  or  slave.  Life  grows  narrower,  burdens 
increase,  until  existence  seems  intolerable  and 
reaches  perilously  near  to  the  suicide  point. 
The  woman  over  thirty  is  usually  the  weary, 
disheartened  woman.  The  hideousness  of 
Japanese  hags,  and  the  multitude  of  them  in 
villages,  are  sights  that  have,  over  and  over 
again,  given  the  writer  daylight  visions  like 
nightmares.  The  list  of  female  suicides  in 
Japan  is  a  terribly  long  one,  and  in  popular  art, 
as  in  Hokusai's,  for  example,  we  have  the  typi- 
cal figure  of  a  bedraggled  ghost  rising  from  the 
well,  in  which  it  is  the  woman's  fad  to  drown 
herself,  though  other  ways  of  exit  from  flesh 
and  blood  are  too  sadly  familiar. 

Infancy  and  Childhood.  —  The  Japanese  baby 
girl,  when  born,  is  usually  the  cause  of  rejoic- 
ing, and  on  the  seventh  day  receives  her  name, 
when  the  family  partakes  of  a  certain  kind  of 
festival  food.  As  the  Japanese  sense  of  person- 
ality is  not  strong,  the  girl  has  no  human 
namesake,  but  is  usually  called  after  something 
beautiful  in  nature,  such  as  blossom,  star,  wave, 
sunshine,  plum,  gold,  pearl,  or  jewel.  The  cus- 
tom of  giving  names  in  compliment  to  another 
is  not  known  among  the  pagan  and  impersonal 
Japanese,  though  part  of  the  father's  or  some 


206  DUX  CHBISTUS 

ancestral  name  is  given  to  the  boy,  or  joinea 
with  another  term  denoting  strength,  power,  or 
numerical  sequence.  The  mother  usually  gets 
more  attention,  amounting  to  fussiness,  than  is 
good  for  her,  often  delaying  return  of  her 
strength  and  health.  The  next  event  is  to  take 
the  baby  on  the  thirtieth  day  to  the  temple,  in 
its  finest  clothes,  duly  embroidered  with  the 
family  crest  if  of  the  gentry  class,  and  made  of 
silk,  crape,  or  cotton,  according  to  the  parents' 
grade  in  society.  Offerings  are  made  to  the 
local  god  and  to  the  priest,  their  blessings  ob- 
tained, and  the  infant  put  under  the  guardianship 
of  the  patron  deity  of  the  temple.  Thus  pagan- 
ism and  priestcraft  get  their  grip  on  human  life 
and  never  relax  it,  no,  not  upon  the  corpse  or 
the  soul  in  purgatory,  for,  as  says  a  Japanese 
proverb,  even  "  the  tortures  of  hell  are  graded 
according  to  money "  paid  to  the  priests.  In 
many  a  temple  in  Japan,  one  reads  a  notice  like 
that  posted  in  Romish  cathedrals,  begging  alms 
to  pay  for  masses  which  are  supposed  to  secure 
the  release  of  suffering  souls  in  the  other  world. 
One  of  the  most  pitiful  of  these  forms  of  appeal, 
once  common  and  now  seen  by  the  wayside 
in  remote  districts,  is  "  the  flowing  invoca- 
tion," in  behalf  of  mothers  whose  life  ended 
untimely. 

After  the  name-giving,  presents  are  sent  by 
the  family  to  friends.  Thus  the  baby  is  a 
source  of  great  care  and  trouble  as  well  as  joy. 
It  has  no  cradle,  though  sometimes  farmers' 
wives  who  work  in  the  field  leave  the  little  one 


WOMAN'S   WORK  FOR    WOMAN  207 

in  a  kind  of  padded  basket,  like  an  egg  in  a 
nest.  Folk-lore  tells  of  the  baby's  unwelcome 
visitors  during  mother's  absence,  of  wolf,  w41d 
swine,  monkeys,  etc.,  wdth  usually  the  result  of 
deliverance  tlirough  the  mercy  of  the  goddess 
Quanon  or  some  Buddhist  saint.  Withoutpins, 
tight  sleeves,  or  much  exposure  of  the  limbs, 
infantile  garb  in  Japan  is  sensible.  Yet  Japan- 
ese infants  liave  their  troubles,  internal  and  ex- 
ternal, and  they  can  cry  lustily.  Most  of  baby's 
waking  and  a  good  deal  of  its  sleeping  time  ^s 
spent  upon  the  back  of  some  member  of  the 
family,  usually  an  older  brother  or  sister,  the 
latter  not  more,  it  may  be,  than  live  or  six  years 
old.  Thus  the  rearing  of  a  Japanese  family, 
each  baby  as  it  grows  bearing  the  one  that 
comes  after  it,  reminds  one  of  a  perpetual  game 
of  leapfrog.  Snuggled  up  under  sister's  coat 
in  winter  or  strapped  more  or  less  securely  in 
sunnner,  baby  attains  a  wonderful  development 
of  arms  and  legs.  This  discipline,  which  every 
baby  gets  on  its  carrier's  back,  explains  that 
wonderful  agility  and  muscular  quality  which 
belongs  to  the  Japanese,  especially  in  the  lower 
classes,  making  them  such  superb  climbers,  ath- 
letes, acrobats,  soldiers  on  the  march  and  in 
the  fight.  Their  system  oi  ju-jutsu,  or  muscle- 
science,  the  wonder  of  the  physical  trainer  in 
every  land,  may  be  said  to  begin  in  practice  in 
infancy.  The  child  must  learn  to  hold  on,  and 
though  its  legs  may  be  cramped,  it  gets  a  splen- 
did grip  power  and  arm  development.  Never- 
theless, the  exposure  of  tender  eyes  to  the  glare 


208  DUX  CHRISTUS 

of  the  sun  is  the  cause  of  much  of  the  blindness 
so  common  in  the  country.  There  are  no  chairs, 
but,  when  able  to  sit,  the  child  soon  learns  to 
make  a  sofa  of  its  calves  and  heels.  By  this 
habit  the  leg  muscles  become  very  flexible,  so 
that  a  Japanese  can  spend  hours  on  knees  and 
ankle  bones,  without  discomfort.  Yet  this  do- 
ing without  chairs  in  Japanese  style  results, 
not  only  in  varicose  veins,  but  in  the  national 
deformity  of  short  legs.  The  introduction  of 
better  methods  of  sitting  will  in  a  few  genera- 
tions add  a  full  inch,  at  least,  to  the  national 
stature.  It  has  already  affected  for  the  better 
the  present  generation.  By  lengthening  the 
legs  of  their  tables,  the  Japanese  have  already 
lengthened  their  own. 

Enemies  of  the  Home.  —  The  custom  of  con- 
cubinage —  only  polygamy  under  another  name 
—  formerly  made  family  life,  as  we  understand 
it,  next  to  impossible  in  many  households. 
Even  to  this  day  many  a  Japanese  family  is  a 
curious  agglomeration,  more  like  a  clan  than  a 
Christian  home,  and  adoption  is  carried  to  ex- 
tremes that  seem  absurd.  Concubinage  destroys 
the  reality  of  the  family,  as  Occidentals  under- 
stand the  term.  No  Galton  could  ever  have 
made  much  of  a  study  of  heredity  in  Japan, 
for  few  so-called  lines  of  lineage  are  real  or  un- 
broken. Adoption  is  almost  a  universal  custom 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  "  house  "  or  the  busi- 
ness. The  distinguished  son  of  a  famous  states- 
man, artist,  actor,  bronzesraith,  sculptor,  etc.,  is 
the  actual  son  of  some  one  else.     The  ease  and 


woman's  work  for  woman       209 

frequency  of  divorce  makes  family  life,  accord- 
ing to  the  average  standard  in  Christendom,  an 
impossibility.  The  architecture  of  a  household 
in  Nippon  is,  so  to  speak,  on  the  perpendicular 
order.  Rank  and  subordination,  rather  than  love 
or  affection,  is  the  predominant  idea.  There  is 
no  pure  word  for  brother  or  sister,  but  only  for 
older  and  younger.  An  enormous  bulk  in  the 
new  Civil  Code  is  occupied  with  the  one  subject 
of  adoption,  and  popular  proverbs  reveal  dread- 
ful secrets  concerning  the  overworking  of  this 
dubious  institution  of  orientalism. 

Among  the  liigher  classes,  the  dread  of  scan- 
dal and  gossip  prevents  too  easy  divorce,  but 
among  the  lower  classes  marriage  was,  and  is, 
virtually  dissoluble  at  the  will  of  either  party. 
Tens  of  thousands  of  folk  in  the  lower  classes 
have  been  married  and  divorced  a  dozen  times. 
Official  statistics  show  the  condition  of  things 
in  1897,  and  also  the  more  hopeful  outlook 
under  the  new  Civil  Code.  From  1891  to  1897 
inclusive,  the  marriages  averaged  annually 
381,069  and  the  divorces  101,098,  but  through 
more  stringent  laws  and  new  moral  ideals,  from 
1898  to  1900  inclusive  there  were  371,295  mar- 
riages and  but  76,621  divorces,  a  reduction  in 
the  latter  of  about  25  per  cent.  With  the  im- 
provement of  the  moral  climate  through  the 
teachings  of  Jesus,  the  nation  will  be  stronger, 
homes  will  be  purer,  the  individual  happier,  and 
Japan's  fair  name,  now  so  often  besmirched  by 
the  lustful,  the  cruel,  and  the  covetous,  will  be 
clean  and  pure. 


210  DUX  CHBI8TUS 

Marriage.  —  The  old  education  of  the  Jap- 
anese women  was  mostly  domestic,  and  but 
slightly  literary.  She  was  usually  married  at 
sixteen,  for,  broadly  speaking,  there  was  in  pre- 
Christian  days  no  such  thing  as  a  spinster  or  a 
bachelor.  Marriage  was  usually  simply  the 
transfer  of  a  cipher  cut  off  from  the  integer  of 
one  family  to  be  set  beside  that  of  another. 
If  the  girl  positively  disliked  the  man  who  was 
submitted  to  her  for  inspection,  she  was  not 
usually  forced  to  marry  him.  As  simple  toler- 
ation on  either  side  was  the  thing  expected, 
without  anything  in  the  way  of  romantic  love, 
most  arrangements  made  by  parents  were  car- 
ried out.  Often  in  old  days  and  in  high  ranks, 
the  bride  beheld  her  future  husband  for  the  first 
time  as  she  lifted  her  blindfolding  silk  cap,  after 
sipping  the  second  cup  of  the  second  tier  of  the 
trio  in  the  "  three  times  three "  of  the  sacra- 
mental wine.  The  marriage  ceremony  was  not 
one  of  religion,  but  purely  a  civil  function.  In 
wedlock  the  bride  became  more  closely  related 
by  law  and  custom  to  her  husband's  relatives 
than  to  her  own.  To  withdraw  her  name  from 
the  list  of  her  father's  family  register  and  to 
have  it  entered  by  the  local  authorities  on  the 
roll  of  her  husband's  family  gave  legality  to 
the  act  of  marriage.  Usually  if  ordinary  regard 
existed  between  husband  and  wife,  more  espe- 
cially if  children  were  born,  and  still  more  par- 
ticularly sons,  the  marriage  bond  held.  In  this 
case  the  family  was  an  institution  not  easily 
changed.     Yet  since  the  marriage  bond  could 


WOMAN'S    WORK  FOE    WOMAN  211 

be  easily  annulled  by  the  husband  for  any  one 
of  seven  reasons,  there  were  in  some  years  as 
many  divorces  as  marriages.  In  Dr.  J.  A.  B. 
Scherer's  "  Japan  To-day  "  we  have  one  of  the 
best  all-round  pictures  of  modern  Japanese  life. 
Those  other  and  unnamed  books,  written  at  the 
selvedg-es  of  the  two  civilizations,  Christian  and 
pagan,  which  deal  with  the  episodes  of  the 
geisha  and  the  women  hired  for  immoral  pur- 
poses, though  often  attractive  in  style,  are  both 
unwholesome  and  misleading. 

The  Husband" s  Power  in  Pagan  Law.  —  Since 
the  law  gives  the  father  jjossession  of  the  children 
and  he  has  the  right  to  dispose  of  them  as  he 
will,  even  to  tlie  babe  in  arms,  wliile  the  divorced 
woman  must  go  to  her  father's  house,  at  once 
discredited  and  childless,  many  wives,  no  mat- 
ter how  brutal  or  worthless  their  husbands  may 
be,  will  toil  and  suffer  long  to  keep  the  family 
together.  Yet  there  must  be  male  heirs.  It 
has  therefore  been  a  common  custom,  when  off- 
spring was  desired,  to  advertise  for  and  hire  a 
young  woman  to  come  into  the  house,  who,  after 
Ix^aring  a  child  and  the  period  of  nursing  over, 
was  dismissed  like  a  common  servant  and  had 
no  claim  whatever  on  her  child,  seeing  it  w^hen 
grown  only  as  a  visitor.  In  a  word,  woman  in 
old  Japan  was  ethically  a  much  less  fraction 
than  half  of  humanity.  Within  the  era  of 
]Meiji  (1868),  however,  the  improvements  in 
law  and  custom,  the  adoption  of  a  new  civil 
code  —  long  fought  against  and  persistently 
postponed  by  the  conservatives  —  the  new  at- 


212  BUX  CHBISTUS 

mosphere  of  thought,  of  feeling,  and  of  hope, 
the  general  and  special  education,  and  espe- 
cially the  religion  of  Jesus,  have  begun  the 
making  of  a  new  world  for  Japanese  women. 
There  is  now  a  variety  of  new  occupations, 
making  single  life  tolerable  by  one's  own  labor 
and  rendering  it  possible  for  woman  to  choose 
or  reject  suitors,  to  enter  into  marriage  from 
love  and  choice,  as  an  intelligent  being,  rather 
than  from  necessity  as  a  mere  cog  in  the  social 
wheel.  These  reforms  have  already  made,  for 
one-half  of  her  people,  that  New  Japan,  which 
is  as  different  from  the  old  as  the  pagan  is  from 
the  Christian  world.  Furthermore,  among  the 
nobility  the  law  requires  that  only  the  true  son 
of  the  true  wife  shall  inherit  the  title.  The 
laws  of  life  rightly  obeyed  will  banish  polyg- 
amy, concubinage,  easy  divorce,  and  other  social 
curses. 

Remarkable  Beginning  of  Prayer  for  Japan.  — 
Against  the  actual  condition  of  woman  as  pic- 
tured with  its  lights  and  shadows  in  their  own 
literature,  and,  as  I  have  been  able  to  study  it 
during  four  years  of  life  in  Nippon,  —  one  in 
the  interior,  and  three  in  the  capital,  —  let  us 
now  look  at  the  half  century  of  woman's  work 
in  Japan.  In  that  work  we  count  prayer  not 
the  least  factor.  It  was  also  the  efficient  begin- 
ning of  the  interest  of  Christian  women  in  their 
Japanese  sisters.  On  the  other  hand,  incite- 
ment to  prayer  came  through  the  divine  Ar- 
tist's gift  to  his  Japanese  child,  of  intense 
susceptibility  to  beauty  and  power  to  express 


woman's  work  for  woman       213 

it.  Long  before  the  year  of  Perry's  advent, 
a  little  basket  of  bamboo  woven  in  Japan 
reached  America,  and  fell  into  the  hands  of 
a  devout  woman  in  Brookline,  Massachusetts. 
Her  eyes  enjoyed  the  dainty  basket,  her  heart 
w.as  moved  for  the  women  of  the  unknown  land 
whose  people  fashioned  it.  Gathering  other 
godly  women  around  her,  she  prayed  with 
them  to  tlie  Father,  that  he  would  grant  some 
day  to  the  daughters  of  these  isles  to  know 
him  in  his  Son  and  their  Saviour.^ 

Women  Missionaries.  —  In  tlie  early  sixties, 
some  of  the  home  boards  with  old  experience, 
but  without  the  prophetic  strain,  turning  the  re- 
flector of  knowledge  about  China  upon  Japan, 
after  inquiring  about  the  expediency  of  send- 
ing women  missionaries  to  Japan,  made  curt 
and  discouraging  answer,  "  Do  not  send  them 
unless  they  are  old  and  ugly,  or  unless  they 
come  as  wards  in  families."  In  our  days,  on 
the  contrary,  tlie  great  evangelizing  agency 
in  Japan  is,  most  emphatically,  by  means  cif 
Christian  women.  Verily  in  our  day,  "  The 
women  that  publish  the  tidings  are  a  great 
host." 

Nor  should  we  make  an  invidious  comparison 
between  married  and  unmarried  missionaries, 
for  many  who  serve  as  wives  and  mothers, 
besides  rearing  families  and  taking  care  of  hus- 
bands, do  noble  work  in  charity,  in  teaching, 
and  in  various  altruistic  activities. 

1  See  complete  account,  "Early  Gifts  and  Prayers  for 
Japan,"  Chapter  VI. 


214  DUX  CHRISTUS 

Music  and  Photography.  —  One  of  the  first 
triumphs  of  Christian  women's  work  in  Japan 
was  to  make  Christian  praise  an  aid  to  the 
gospel.  It  was  woman  who  demonstrated  the 
power  of  music  as  an  aid  to  faith  and  worship, 
as  in  all  spiritual  work  and  influence.  In 
theory,  the  Japanese  throat  had  been  pro- 
nounced incapable  of  producing  either  our 
gamut  or  singing  our  music,  and  already 
experts  were  inventing  a  new  notation  based 
on  the  supposed  limits  of  power.  The  faith 
and  persistence  of  one  woman  at  once  changed 
the  whole  situation,  and  the  story  has  since 
been  one  of  progress.  Certainly  among  the 
psychic  moments  of  success  in  Japan,  that  must 
be  considered  among  the  greatest,  when  the 
wife  of  a  missionary  taught  a  Japanese  boy  to 
sing  the  musical  scale,  and  thus  opened  the 
way  for  the  reign  of  Christian  song.  To-day 
the  schools,  army,  and  navy  bands,  and  popular 
concerts  employ  the  musical  scale  of  the  Occi- 
dent and  the  civilized  world.  The  superb 
*'  Hymnal "  of  1904,  the  crowning  work  after 
long  evolution  and  many  predecessors,  with  its 
hundreds  of  tunes  and  words  in  Japanese,  is  the 
high-water  mark  of  progress  in  praise. 

It  is  remembered  that  the  hymn 

"  Jesus  loves  me,  this  I  know  " 

though  according  to  the  refined  taste  of  to-day 
awkwardly  translated,  was  the  favorite  then 
and  is  now.  How  heartily  the  people  to  whom 
it  was  fresh,  good  news  sang  it  !     One  Chris- 


woman's  work  for  woman       215 

tian  woman  passed  away  singing  it,  and  those 
words  of  hope  were  chiselled  on  her  tombstone. 
She  was  the  wife  of  the  first  native  photog- 
rapher, who  had  been  taught  by  Dr.  S.  R. 
Brown.  The  photogi'aph  in  Japan,  as  else- 
where, lias  been  to  art  what  printing  has  to  lit- 
erature. To-day  the  stereopticon  by  night  and 
the  camera  by  day  are  in  grand  use  for  illustrat- 
ing gos])el  truth  and  in  keeping  Christians  at 
home  informed  and  sympathetic. 

What  would  have  been  the  status  of  Japan 
to-day  if  one-half  of  the  people — girls,  wives, 
and  mothers  —  had  been  left  untouclied  by  influ- 
ences from  Christendom  ?  What,  if  from  the 
first,  in  185*.>,  they  had  not  had,  with  their 
brothers,  equal  liope  in  the  gospel  ?  Certainly 
the  new  Christian  woman  and  the  Christian 
home,  with  all  that  these  mean  for  the  future 
of  Japan,  would  not  have  been. 

Surveying  the  subject  historically,  we  see 
tluit  with  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Brown  in  1859,  Miss 
Caroline  Adriance  of  the  Reformed  Church 
came  out,  at  her  own  charges,  to  teach  the 
good  news  of  (iod  to  Japanese  women.  The 
way  was  not  then  opened,  and  she  crossed  to 
China,  where  she  died.  Honor  to  her,  the 
pioneer  ! 

To  Miss  Mary  E.  Kidder,  now  Mrs.  E.  R. 
Miller,  belongs  the  honor  of  being  the  first  un- 
married woman  who  in  1869  came  to  Japan 
with  the  express  idea  of  being  a  missionary 
teacher,  and  succeeded  because  the  time  was 
ripe.     In  1875  her  school  liad  grown  into  the 


216  DUX  CHBI8TUS 

Ferris  Seminary  at  Yokohama,  which  entered 
on  a  glorious  and  still  active  career.  One  of 
the  officers  of  the  Woman's  Union  Missionary 
Society,  Mrs.  Mary  Pruyn,  a  widow  of  great 
intellectual  and  executive  ability,  went  out  with 
Miss  Julia  N.  Crosby  and  Mrs.  L.  H.  Pierson 
to  organize  a  school  intended  primarily  for  the 
benefit  of  Eurasian  children  of  Yokohama  and 
the  seaports.  They  arrived  June,  1871.  In  Oc- 
tober, 1872,  the  well-known  American  Mission 
Home  at  212  Bluff,  Yokohama,  was  opened  here. 
On  Sunday  nights  in  one  room  would  be  a 
prayer  meeting  full  of  English-speaking  people, 
both  mercantile  and  military,  the  sailors  of  the 
merchant  marine,  the  red-coated  British  sol- 
diers from  the  camp,  and  the  blue-jackets  from 
the  men-of-war.  In  another  room,  Dr.  Samuel 
Robbins  Brown,  founder  of  the  first  Protestant 
Christian  School  in  China  and  of  the  first 
women's  college  in  the  United  States,  would  be 
teaching  the  Bible  to  scores  of  attentive  Japan- 
ese, or  Okuno  would  be  preaching  one  of  those 
sermons  that  seemed  to  show  that  the  Japanese 
language  had  been  so  baptized  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  as  to  become  a  new  tongue.  Mrs.  Pruyn 
toiled  here  for  a  decade,  Mrs.  Pierson  for 
twenty-five  years. 

It  was  soon  seen,  however,  that  the  better  line 
of  work  for  the  new  woman  missionaries  was  the 
Christian  education  of  Japanese  girls.  Work 
therefore  among  the  daughters  of  the  land  soon 
began  and  has  continued  with  mighty  benefit 
and  blessing  to  this  day.     More  than  once,  girls 


WOMAN'S    WORK  FOR    WOMAN  217 

on  declaring  for  their  Saviour  were  disowned  by 
their  families  and  suffered  persecution. 

Reenforcements  from  the  English-speaking 
Nations.  —  While  a  solitary  exile  pioneer  of 
education  in  Fukui,  during  feudalism's  last  year 
of  1871,  the  writer  never  met  a  missionary,  — 
though  he  saw  native  Christians  borne  off  to 
prison,  —  but  when  living  in  Tokio,  in  1873,  he 
joined  with  others  in  welcoming  there  three 
women  who  came  out  under  the  American  Pres- 
byterian Board  and  started  the  Graham  Semi- 
nary for  young  women  January,  1874.  This 
foundation  has  since  been  incorporated  in  the 
Joshi  Gakuin,  a  fine  school  with  two  hundred 
pupils.  The  American  Congregational  Churches, 
in  beginning  work  for  women,  were  represented 
by  Miss  Eliza  Talcott  and  Miss  J.  E.  Dudley, 
who  arrived  March,  1873.  They  joined  the 
mission  at  Kobe,  where  at  that  time  a  former 
feudal  baron  of  Sanda  was  living  with  his 
family.  Full  of  ideas  of  progress,  this  ex- 
daimio  encouraged  these  peaceful  invaders  and 
soon,  in  company  with  his  mother  and  sister, 
one  of  the  American  women  visited  the  castle 
town.  They  spent  several  months  in  the  place 
and  began  meetings  for  women,  some  of  whom 
soon  opened  their  lips  in  prayer.  In  October, 
1875,  the  Kobe  Girls'  School,  since  developed 
into  Kobe  College,  was  established  and  has  done 
a  grand  work.  Other  churches  in  America  took 
up  women's  work  for  women,  sending  out  their 
ablest  representatives.  Miss  Ellen  G.  Eddy, 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  opened  a 


218  DUX  CHR19TUS 

Girls'  School  in  Osaka  in  November,  1874,  and 
Miss  Dora  E.  Schoonmaker,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  in  part  of  an  old  temple,  at 
Mita,  Tokio,  and  after  her  Miss  Higgins,  at 
Yokohama  ;  Miss  Anna  H.  Kidder  and  Miss 
Clara  Sands  of  the  Baptist  Mission,  the  former 
in  Tokio,  the  latter  in  Yokohama,  initiated  ser- 
vice for  their  Japanese  sisters.  The  Mary  L, 
Colby  School  at  Yokohama,  known  as  the  Truth- 
seeking  Girls'  School,  and  the  Sarah  Curtis 
School  in  Tokio  are  in  active  operation. 

Although  the  English  Church  Missionary  So- 
ciety entered  the  field  later  in  point  of  time^ 
they  now  outnumber  with  their  workers  any 
of  the  other  societies.  In  1888  Mrs.  Julia  Tris- 
tram and  Miss  Tapson  came  out,  and  with  these, 
under  the  one  Church  Society,  several  others 
have  cooperated. 

The  Christian  Woman's  Task  in  Japan.  — What 
was,  what  is,  the  Christian  woman's  task  in 
Japan  ?  To  answer  this,  let  us  look  at  the  situ- 
ation. Uncover  the  pleasing  surface  of  things 
Japanese,  and  immediately  the  aptitude  and 
necessity  of  the  Master's  words  become  appar- 
ent,—  "Cleanse  first  the  inside."  Outwardly 
in  Japanese  human  nature,  all  is  charm,  beauty, 
gentleness,  politeness.  Inwardly  are  foulness 
and  corruption,  with  plenty  of  sin  both  original 
and  imported.  First  of  all,  there  is  the  language 
which  is  saturated  with  insincerity.  The  Jap- 
anese tongue  is  not  noted  for  brutal  frankness, 
nor,  on  the  other  hand,  is  it  the  easiest  in  which 
to  speak  the  truth.     Its  very  structure  tends  to 


WOMAN'S   WORK  FOR    WOMAN  219 

deception,  obliging  you  to  say  what  you  do  not 
feel  or  believe.  Behind  its  two  thousand  years 
of  growth  is  the  atmosphere  of  paganism,  super- 
stition, low  ideals  of  family  life,  of  personal 
purity  and  cliastity,  with  next  to  nothing  of  a 
sense  of  sin.  There  is  no  fifty-first  psalm,  or 
anything  like  it,  in  all  the  range  of  the  national 
literature.  Some  foreigners  indeed  say  that  the 
Japanese,  as  a  nation,  are  destitute  of  any  true 
conception  of  cliastity.  This,  to  say  the  least, 
is  a  harsh  and  hazardous  assertion.  Neverthe- 
less it  is  true  that  what  is  outwardly  sweet  and 
winsome  is  often  inwardly  unclean.  Further- 
more behind  customs,  manners,  politeness,  as 
spotlessly  fair  as  a  whited  sepulchre,  stand  the 
hoary  institutions  of  polygamy,  concubinage, 
legalized  prostitution,  brutality  based  on  the 
sword,  and  that  long  reign  of  Confucianism 
which  conceives  of  woman  with  infinite  con- 
tempt, —  and  it  was  Confucianism  that  for  cen- 
turies moulded  Japanese  morals.  Under  the 
power  of  priestcraft,  which  laid  its  iron  hand 
upon  the  whole  life  of  woman  from  the  cradle 
to  the  grave,  the  notions  and  practices  of  idola- 
try and  witchcraft  became  universal.  Social 
evils  of  the  worst  form,  including  infanticide, 
gambling,  the  sale  and  slavery  of  daughters  for 
vilest  purposes,  divorce  of  the  wife  for  frivolous- 
reasons,  the  single  standard  of  marital  fidelity, 
making  the  woman  always  the  sinner,  a  litera- 
ture, popular  art,  and  ways  of  pleasure  degraded 
by  obscenity,  were  rampant  in  the  pre-Christian 
days. 


220  BUX  CIIRISTUS 

In  this  twentieth  century,  in  law,  society,  and 
custom,  in  the  abolition  or  suppression  of  the 
vile,  and  the  general  change  in  favor  of  human- 
ity, decency,  and  morals,  the  change  is  so  great, 
that  tourists,  well  equipped  with  the  colored 
glasses  furnished  by  literary  oculists,  become 
so  smitten  with  the  glamour  that  they  imagine 
things  in  Japan  were  always  thus.  Little  do 
they  think  how  a  new  atmosphere  has  been 
created.  The  readers  of  Loti,  Hearn,  Arnold, 
know  not  that  the  native  lawmakers  have  had 
their  eyes  anointed  with  Christian  eye-salve,  so 
that  they  see  as  those  nations  see  that  have  been 
lifted  up  by  the  gospel.  To  the  creation  of  this 
new  moral  climate  native  and  foreign  women, 
moved  by  the  love  of  Christ,  have  nobly  con- 
tributed by  their  work  and  lives.  Women  from 
Christian  lands  gave  object  lessons ;  they  taught 
with  love,  patience,  and  gentleness  for  years. 
"  Let  her  own  works  praise  her  in  the  gates.  "■ 

"  Cleanse  first  the  inside  "  is  what  the  wise 
teachers  do.  They  are  not  anxious  to  alter 
names,  innocent  customs,  or  anything  good.  It 
is  the  life  which  they  seek  to  uplift,  to  instil  a 
high  ideal  of  womanly  purity  and  honor,  to  cast 
out  the  devils  of  superstition  and  evil  craft,  to 
relax  the  grip  of  the  pagan  priest,  and  to  build 
up  womanhood  according  to  the  ideals  of  Christ 
Jesus.  They  know  well  the  expulsive  power 
of  new  affections.     Nobly  have  they  succeeded. 

Signal  Instances  of  Success.  —  Some  signal  in- 
stances in  personality,  methods,  and  institutions 
have  been  and  are  still  in  the  Master's  service. 


woman's  work  foe  woman       221 

On  the  bluff  at  Yokohama  stand  edifices  that 
are  as  cities  set  upon  a  hill,  which  are  like 
ruighty  power  stations.  These  are  pulsing  thrills 
of  light  in  Japanese  moral  darkness,  making 
incandescent  glow  in  thousands  of  homes  from 
which  idols  are  abolished.  They  are  furnishing 
the  motor  force  which  propels  the  cars  of  prog- 
ress. After  a  third  of  a  century  hundreds  of 
alumnie,  in  every  path  of  service  and  in  Chris- 
tian households,  are  helping  make  a  brighter 
and  hap])ier  new  Japan.  At  Kobe,  in  Tokio, 
in  Himeji,  in  a  score  of  places,  the  bread  of 
sacrifice  and  toil  is  being  cast  upon  the  waters. 
What  was  once  like  a  handful  of  corn  on  the 
tops  of  the  mountains,  is  now  fruit  shaking  like 
Lebanon.  Not  only  in  the  capital,  large  cities, 
and  seaports,  but  in  many  an  inland  town  the 
lamps  of  wise  virgins  are  burning  and  there  is 
gospel  oil  well  supplied  by  consecrated  women. 
Japanese  girlhood  is  being  transformed,  and  the 
home  is  being  won  for  Christ.  The  maiden  of 
modern  Japan  is  living  in  a  new  world  of  ideas 
and  aspirations,  a  world  that  is  grander  and  in 
every  way  more  glorious  than  that  in  which  her 
mother  moved.  Her  heart  beats  in  sympathy 
not  only  with  the  history,  experience,  and  wisdom 
of  her  own  native  land,  but  with  the  common 
heritage  of  all  Christian  nations.  Pantheism, 
which  made  personality  a  cipher,  is  passing  away 
as  a  vapor,  and  educated  in  the  idea  of  one  God 
and  Father,  she  thrills  with  the  consciousness 
of  her  birthright  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  of  her  own 
worth   and  personality  in  the  making  of   the 


222  DUX  CHRISTUS 

nation.  By  her  richer  and  more  beautiful  life, 
she  is  changing  man's  traditional  opinion  of 
womanhood,  because  the  educated  Christian  girl 
makes  a  wife  that  is  a  true  helpmeet  for  her 
husband,  whether  he  toils  and  aspires  for 
honor  and  country,  or,  in  larger  vision  and 
ever  more  earnest  service,  builds  up  a  Chris- 
tian home. 

Courage  of  Japanese  Inquirers.  —  Even  now, 
in  regions  remote  from  centres  of  Christian  cul- 
ture, courage  is  required  for  a  Japanese  woman 
to  come  to  the  meetings  of  what,  b}'  popular 
tradition  and  family  training,  was  so  long  asso- 
ciated with  sorcery  and  deviltry.  For  centu- 
ries, mothers  in  Japan  frightened  their  children 
with  the  name  of  Jesus  as  if  it  were  that  of  a 
demon,  for  did  not  the  law,  both  of  Rome  and 
of  Japan,  make  Christ  an  outlaw  ?  In  addition 
there  was  the  great  barrier  of  social  custom 
against  public  gatherings  of  any  kind  for  women 
held  inside  of  houses.  By  sad  contrast,  the 
temple  festivals,  long  moonlight  night  dances, 
and  other  assemblies  not  calculated  to  improve 
good  morals,  were  open  to  them.  Not  a  few 
of  the  oversensitive,  in  order  to  escape  notice, 
came,  like  Nicodemus,  by  night  to  inquire  into 
matters  of  religion.  Yet,  as  a  rule,  education 
and  intellect  were  on  the  side  of  spiritual  prog- 
ress. The  young  government  officers  encour- 
aged their  wives  and  daughters  to  be  present 
at  prayer  meetings  and  to  put  themselves  un- 
der the  instruction  of  Christian  women.  In 
the  first  churches  of  Japan  men  were  in  the 


woman's  work  fob  woman       223 

great  majority,  and  most  of  these  were  samurai 
or  gentry;  but  gradually  the  women  member- 
ship increased,  and  some  of  the  very  women 
who  once  ignorantly  blasphemed  the  name  of 
the  Saviour  were  seen  sitting  in  adoring  love 
at  his  table. 

"Workers  in  Many  Fields.  —  As  the  field  and 
outlook  broadened  and  work  developed,  more 
helpers  were  needed  and  rich  experiences  were 
gained.  By  1882  as  many  foreign  women  as 
there  had  been  years  in  the  century  had  arrived 
on  the  soil,  of  whom  two-thirds  were  active  at 
their  posts. 

Of  the  nearly  three  hundred  foreign  women 
workers  now  in  Japan,  about  one-half  are  di- 
rectly and  tlie  other  half  indirectly  engaged  in 
influencing  the  people  to  Christian  living.  Be- 
sides tliesc,  tliere  are  over  two  hundred  wives 
of  missionaries,  more  or  less  active  in  propagat- 
ing the  gospel  truths  by  the  Word,  the  life,  and 
the  home.  'J'heir  method  of  work  varies,  but  their 
great  aim  is  to  build  up  Christian  homes  and  de- 
velo})  Christian  cliaracter.  Many  of  them  spend 
most  of  their  time  in  the  schoolroom.  They 
also  keep  the  s(diool  graduates  in  their  eye 
and  thought,  liel[)ing  them  by  wise  counsel  to 
make  real,  by  actual  sacrifice  at  home,  the 
sclioolgirl's  vision  of  a  higlier  womanhood. 
Christians  at  liome,  in  studying  the  missionary 
situation,  must  remember  the  parable  of  the 
leaven  liid,  as  well  as  that  of  the  nuistard-seed 
phenomenal.  Jesus  taught  two  lessons  of  the 
kingdom's  life  and  growth  as  concerning  what 


224  DUX  CHBISTUS 

was  inward  and  visible  but  not  powerful,  as 
well  as  what  could  be  measured  by  the  eye. 

The  kindergarten,  under  Christian  teachers, 
is  a  superb  means  of  influencing  the  receptive 
minds  of  childhood.  Even  the  mill-hands  in 
crowded  factories  are  not  forgotten.  The  tour- 
ing system,  by  which  Christian  women  spend  a 
month  or  more  at  a  time  in  visiting  people  of 
the  country  churches,  enables  the  women  reared 
under  two  different  worlds  of  thought  and  life 
to  know  and  understand  each  other  better. 
This  work  is  as  delightful  as  it  is  wearisome, 
and,  like  all  noble  things,  very  difficult  but 
amply  repaying.  Blessed  be,  effective  is,  this 
work  of  the  Christian  women  of  the  West, 
which  on  the  social  side  is  powerfully  leaven- 
ing the  most  Eastern  of  nations.  Some  of  the 
native  churches  support  and  send  out  Bible 
women,  who  do  varied  service,  in  some  cases 
scarcely  second  to  that  of  the  pastor. 

A  Glance  at  Results.  —  Looking  at  results,  we 
can  see  that  there  are  to-day,  instead  of  the 
twenty  or  so,  of  three  decades  ago,  about  forty- 
five  thousand  members  of  Protestant  Christian 
churches  in  Japan.  Of  these,  probably  most 
are  acquainted  with  their  Bibles  and  live 
earnest  and  fruitful  Christian  lives.  In  not  a 
few  cases,  it  was  the  desire  to  know  the  Scrip- 
tures that  stimulated  illiterate  wives  and 
daughters  to  learn  their  letters.  Not  infre- 
quently the  weekly  church  prayer  meetings  are 
conducted  by  women,  who  in  addition  have 
special  gatherings  for  prayer,  arranged  and  con- 


woman's  wobk  for  woman       225 

ducted  by  women,  their  numbers  running  often 
into  the  hundreds.  With  tact  and  persistency, 
the  new  women  of  Christian  Japan  carry  out 
works  of  benevolence  and  charity,  pay  church 
debts,  and  keep  the  sacred  edifices  in  repair. 
Thus  directly,  or  indirectly,  non-Christian  girls, 
and  women,  who  are  yet  unal)le  for  social  reasons 
to  meet  openly  with  Christians,  are  helped  to 
spiritual  inquiry  and  conformity  to  Christian 
models.  Every  year  sees  new  doors  of  useful- 
ness opened,  but  the  area  of  untouched  society 
is  yet  very  large.  With  the  increase  of  material 
prosperity  and  of  members  on  the  church  rolls, 
there  is  even  more  call  to  the  workers  for  con- 
secration, prayer,  toil,  and  unselfishness. 

The  Gospel  in  Country  Places.  —  Jesus  said, 
"Go  out  into  the  highways."  Most  honorable 
is  the  self-effacing  service  of  the  teacher,  physi- 
cian, or  nurse,  who,  among  the  Ainos  of  Yezo, 
or  mountain  tribes  of  Formosa,  serves  her 
Master  in  complete  isolation  from  civilized  life. 
Almost  as  noble  in  self-denying  exile  are  the 
ministering  women  who  work  alone  in  the 
country  districts  of  Japan  proper.  A  native 
Christian  once  said  of  such  a  missionary's  visit  : 
''  It  was  like  the  revolving  light  on  Oshima. 
It  leaves  us  in  darkness  after  one  flash  of  light, 
but  we  learn  by  that  how  to  steer  until  it  turns 
us  the  bright  side  again."  The  strong  woman, 
when  willing,  can  do  this  work,  carrying  God's 
good  news  to  man  as  Jesus  did,  on  foot  ;  for 
every  year  there  are  more  and  more  Christians 
and   inquirers   scattered    along    each    route    of 

Q 


226  I>UX  CHEISTU8 

travel.  In  opening  new  lines  of  endeavor,  the 
gospel  outruns  even  the  railways  ;  yet  a  place 
once  visited  must  be  visited  again.  These  fresh 
inquirers,  "  glad  to  hang  on  your  eyelids,"  may 
want  to  be  Christians  and  united  into  a  church. 
*'  They  are  the  leaven  of  the  country,  but  bread- 
makers  know  that  leaven  must  be  cared  for 
and  kept  warm  if  it  is  expected  to  work."  No- 
where more  than  among  these  country  folk  can 
one  realize  that  the  gospel  really  is  the  good 
news  of  God.  Those  who  are  not  yet  Chris- 
tians carry  the  tidings  back  into  the  mountains 
and  hamlets,  and  talk  it  over  their  campfires,  or 
around  the  square  hole  in  the  middle  of  the 
floor,  which  serves  as  the  home  hearth.  There 
is  no  greater  joy  in  missionary  life  than  telling 
the  new  story  of  God's  love  to  simple-hearted 
dwellers  in  the  country. 

Women  are  intensely  social.  "  In  the  world, 
a  friend  ;  in  travelling,  a  companion,"  is  their 
proverb.  It  is  rare  that  you  can  find  one  of 
them  who  will  study  alone,  but  she  will  gladly 
do  so  with  a  friend.  When  she  cannot  read, 
personal  talk  with  her  is  the  handiest  weapon 
with  which  to  put  down  prejudice,  because  it 
raises  no  question  as  to  whether,  she  can  read 
or  not,  an  inquiry  which  is  embarrassing  to  the 
illiterate.  Happily  in  Japan  there  is  no  caste, 
and  the  woman  missionary  is  free  to  enter  the 
homes  of  all  classes. 

For  Temperance,  Purity,  and  Freedom.  —  "  The 
day  is  short,  the  work  is  great,  the  Master 
presses."     Realizing  these  three  elements  of  the 


woman's  woek  for  woman       227 

situation,  the  wise  women  attack  the  colossal 
problem  with  many-sided  adaptabilities.  Even 
in  1854  Commodore  Perry  feared  for  the  future 
of  Japan  because  intoxicating  liquor  was  so 
cheap.  Those  who  would  see  a  stalwart  race  in 
these  islands,  and  wish  Japan  success  in  world 
competition,  grieve  to  see  millions  of  Japanese, 
both  men  and  women,  slaves  to  tobacco.  As  for 
the  general  licentiousness  prevalent  all  over 
Japan  and  the  export  of  her  women  to  the  ports 
of  Asia,  that  is  too  well  known  to  need  comment, 
but  rather  attack,  the  fierceness  of  which  should 
be  tempered  only  by  wisdom.  The  Women's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  has  made  war  upon 
tliese  three  forms  of  evil,  while  the  Salvation 
Army  has  carried  the  war  into  the  enemy's  camp. 
The  agitation  thus  created,  with  petitions  to  the 
Imperial  Diet,  and  pressing  for  reform  in  the 
prefectures  have  produced  a  public  opinion  that 
in  time  will  tell  for  the  physical  and  moral  im- 
provement of  the  nation.  It  has  already  struck 
off  the  chains  from  thousands  of  women  morally 
enslaved.  The  work  of  temperance  is  now  by 
organization,  publication,  and  regular  effort  in- 
trenched as  a  permanent  force.  The  abominable 
cigarette  habit  is  regulated  by  law.  One  of  the 
grandest  moral  trium})hs  of  the  age  is  seen  in 
the  ripening  of  public  opinion  which  expressed 
itself  in  a  law  passed  by  the  Imperial  Diet,  that 
no  woman  should  be  kept  in  the  prostitutes' 
quarters  against  her  will.  To  enforce  this  legis- 
lation, brave  men  and  women  have  risked  life 
and  limb,  penetrating  into  the  dens  of  vice  to 


228  DUX  CHRISTUS 

set  the  captives  free.  Though  roughly  handled 
by  rowdies  and  those  whose  financial  interests 
were  at  stake,  they  have  persevered  and  won. 
In  two  years  the  number  of  unfortunate  women, 
many  of  them  sold  by  fathers,  brothers,  and 
husbands  for  a  money  consideration  to  lives  of 
shame,  decreased  from  52,274  to  40,175.  Chris- 
tian women  have  built  and  maintained  Rescue 
Homes  to  aid  the  released,  to  employ,  educate, 
and  lift  them  up  to  holy  life.  Although  judges 
at  the  bench,  fearing  unpopularity,  still  decide 
in  favor  of  selling  women,  the  hope  is  well 
founded  that  the  worst  blot  on  Japan's  fair  name 
will  be  removed  as  the  tide  of  public  opinion 
rises.  Christian  women  have  aided  at  "  The 
Prison  Gate"  thousands  of  women  just  re- 
leased from  behind  bars  ;  and  prison  reform, 
first  introduced  by  missionaries,  is  now  one 
of  the  methods  of  working  in  Christ's  name  in 
Japan. 

Among  the  Mill  Operatives.  —  The  compara- 
tively sudden  change  from  the  feudal  system  to 
manufacturing  and  commercialism  has  broken 
up  cottage  industries  and  massed  feminine  hu- 
manity in  the  factories  of  the  great  cities.  In 
Tokio  about  twenty  thousand,  in  Osaka  thirty 
thousand,  and  in  Kioto  sixty  thousand  girls  and 
women,  some  as  young  as  eight  years  old,  toil  in 
factories.  Most  of  them  work  twelve  hours 
daily,  and,  on  alternate  weeks,  at  night  as  well 
as  by  day.  Some  factories  are  little  better  than 
sheds.  With  unsanitary  surroundings  and  poor 
ventilation,  girls  in  factories  often  die  from  ill- 


woman's  work  for  woman       229 

ness  caused  by  heat  and  fatigue.  To  the  relief 
of  sucli  a  situation,  the  church  and  the  mission- 
aries are  addressing  themselves  as  well  as  to  the 
creation  of  a  public  opinion  that  will  check 
these  evils  at  the  fountain  head. 


230  I)UX  CHRISTUS 

LITERARY  ILLUSTRATIONS 
Christianity  elevates  Woman 

The  second  remedy  that  is  suggested  is  Christianity, 
a  remedy  which  is  even  now  at  work.  Wherever  one 
finds  in  Japan  a  Christian  home,  there  one  finds  the  wife 
and  mother  occupying  the  position  that  she  occupies  all 
over  Christendom.  The  Christian  man,  in  choosing  his 
wife,  feels  that  it  is  not  an  ordinary  contract,  which  may 
be  dissolved  at  any  time  at  the  will  of  the  contracting 
parties,  but  that  it  is  a  union  for  life.  Consequently,  in 
making  his  choice,  he  is  more  careful,  takes  more  time, 
and  thinks  more  of  the  personal  qualities  of  the  woman 
he  is  about  to  marry.  Thus  the  chances  are  better  at 
the  beginning  for  the  establishment  of  a  happy  home, 
and  such  homes  form  centres  of  influence  throughout  tlie 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land  to-day. 

—  Alice  M.  Bacon. 


The  Ethics  of  Dress 


According  to  the  Japanese  standard,  any  exposure  of 
the  person  that  is  merely  incidental  to  health,  cleanli- 
ness, or  convenience  in  doing  necessary  work,  is  perfectly 
modest  and  allowable ;  but  an  exjiosure,  no  matter  how 
slight,  that  is  simply  for  show,  is  in  the  highest  degree 
indelicate.  .  .  . 

As  for  the  ball-room  costumes,  where  neck  and  arms 
are  freely  exposed  to  the  gaze  of  multitudes,  the  Japanese 
woman,  who  would  with  entire  composure  take  her  bath 
in  the  presence  of  others,  would  be  in  an  agony  of  shame 
at  the  thought  of  appearing  in  public  in  a  costume  so  in- 
decent as  that  worn  by  many  respectable  American  and 
European  women.  Our  judgment  would  indeed  be  a 
hasty  one  sliould  we  conclude  that  the  sense  of  decency 
is  wanting  in  the  Japanese  as  a  race,  or  that  the  women 
are  at  all  lacking  in  the  womanly  instinct  of  modesty. 

—  Alice  M.  Bacon. 


woman's  work  for  woman        231 

TiiE  Hopelessness  of  Paganism 

A  Japanese  woman  loses  her  beauty  early.  At  thirty- 
five  her  fresh  color  is  usually  entirely  gone  ;  her  eyes  have 
begun  to  sink  a  little  in  their  sockets ;  her  youthful 
roundness  and  symmetry  of  figure  have  given  place  to  an 
absolute  leanness;  her  abundant  hair  has  grown  thin; 
and  much  care  and  anxiety  have  given  her  face  a  pathetic 
expression  of  quiet  endurance.  One  seldom  sees  a  face 
that  indicates  a  soured  temper  or  cross  disposition ;  but 
the  lines  that  show  themselves,  as  the  years  go  by,  are 
lines  that  indicate  suffering  and  disappointment,  patiently 
and  sweetly  borne ;  the  lips  never  forget  to  smile ;  the 
voice  renuiins  always  cheerful  and  sympathetic,  —  never 
grows  }ieevish  aiul  worried,  as  is  too  often  the  ctise  with 
overworked  or  disappointed  women  in  this  country. 
But  youth,  with  its  hopeful  outlook,  its  plans,  and  its 
ambitions,  gives  waytf)  age,  with  its  peaceful  waiting  for 
the  end,  with  only  a  brief  struggle  for  its  place;  and  the 
woman  of  thirty-tive  is  just  at  the  point  when  she  has 
bid  good-l)y  to  her  youth,  and,  having  little  to  hope  for 
in  lier  middle  life,  is  doing  her  work  faithfully,  and  look- 
ing forward  to  an  old  age  of  privilege  and  authority,  the 
mistress  of  her  son's  house,  and  the  ruler  of  the  little 
donuiin  of  home.  —  Alice  ]\I.  Bacon. 


AYOMAX'S    Si; Ll-H ENUNCIATION 

'Woman's  surreiuler  of  herself  to  the  good  of  the  home 
and  family  was  as  willing  and  honoral)le  as  the  man's 
self-surrender  to  the  goo<l  of  his  lord  and  country.  Self- 
renunciation,  without  which  no  life-enigma  can  be  solved, 
was  the  keynote  of  loyalty  of  man  as  well  as  of  domes- 
ticity of  woman.  —  Dk.  Inazo  Nitobe. 


The  Old  Code 


When  a  Japanese  Virginia  saw  her  chastity  menaced, 
she   did   not  wait   for   her   father's   dagger.     Her  own 


232  DUX  CHBISTUS 

weapon  lay  always  in  her  bosom.  It  was  a  disgrace  to 
her  not  to  know  the  proper  way  in  which  she  had  to 
perpetrate  self-destruction.  For  example,  little  as  she 
was  taught  in  anatomy,  she  must  know  the  exact  spot  to 
cut  in  her  throat ;  she  must  know  how  to  tie  her  lower 
limbs  together  with  a  belt  so  that,  whatever  the  agonies 
of  death  might  be,  her  corpse  be  found  in  utmost  modesty 
with  the  limbs  properly  composed. —  Dr.  Inazo  Nitobe. 


The  Chief  Lady  of  the  Land 

Some  years  ago,  when  the  castle  in  Tokio  was  burned, 
and  the  emperor  and  empress  were  obliged  to  take  refuge 
iu  an  old  daimio's  house,  a  place  entirely  lacking  in  lux- 
uries and  considerably  out  of  repair,  some  one  expressed 
to  her  the  grief  that  all  her  people  felt  that  she  should 
have  to  put  up  with  so  many  inconveniences.  Her  re- 
sponse was  a  graceful  little  poem,  in  which  she  said  that 
it  mattered  little  how  she  was  situated,  as  long  as  she 
was  sure  of  a  home  in  the  hearts  of  her  people.  That 
home  which  fire  can  never  consume  she  has  undoubtedly 
made  for  herself.  —  Alice  M.  Bacon. 


Two  Epochal  Women 


Each  [Queen  Jingu  of  mythology,  and  Haruko,  em- 
press] marks  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  —  the  first,  of 
the  era  of  civilization  and  morality  founded  upon  the 
teachings  of  Buddha  and  Confucius ;  the  second,  of  the 
civilization  and  morality  that  have  sprung  from  the  teach- 
ings of  Christ.  Buddhism  and  Confucianism  were  elevat- 
ing and  civilizing,  but  failed  to  place  the  women  of 
Japan  upon  even  as  high  a  plane  as  they  had  occupied 
in  the  old  barbaric  times.  To  Christianity  they  must 
look  for  the  security  and  happiness  which  it  has  never 
failed  to  give  to  the  wives  and  mothers  of  all  Christian 
nations.  —  Alice  M.Bacon. 


woMAy  s  WORK  :fob  woman       233 

The  Person  Dies.     The  House  Lives 

It  is  strange,  but  true,  that  you  may  often  go  into  a 
Japanese  family  and  find  half  a  dozen  persons  calling 
each  other  parent  and  child,  brother  and  sister,  uncle  and 
nephew,  and  yet  being  really  either  no  blood  relations  at 
all,  or  else  relations  assumed  in  quite  different  degrees 
from  those  conventionally  assumed.  Galton's  books  could 
never  have  been  written  in  Japan;  for  though  genealogies 
are  carefully  kept,  they  mean  nothing,  at  least  from  a 
scientific  point  of  view  —  so  universal  is  the  practice  of 
adoption  from  the  top  of  society  to  the  bottom.  This  it 
is  which  explains  such  apparent  anomalies  as  a  distin- 
guished painter,  potter,  actor,  or  what  not,  almost  always 
having  a  son  distinguished  in  the  same  line  —  he  has 
simply  adopted  his  best  pupil.  It  also  explains  the  fact 
of  Japanese  families  not  dying  out. 

—  Basil  Hall  Chamberlain. 


The  Geisha  —  "What  to  Do  with  Her? 

The  geishas,  unfortunately,  though  fair,  are  frail.  In 
their  system  of  education,  manners  stand  higher  than 
morals,  and  many  a  geisha  gladly  leaves  her  dancing  in 
the  tea  houses  to  become  the  concubine  of  some  wealthy 
Japanese  or  foreigner,  thinking  none  the  worse  of  herself 
for  such  an  arrangement,  and  going  cheerfully  back  to 
lier  regular  work  should  her  contract  be  unexpectedly 
ended.  The  geisha  is  not  necessarily  bad,  but  there  is 
in  her  life  much  temptation  to  evil  and  little  stimulus 
to  good,  so  that  where  one  life  is  blameless,  many  go 
wrong,  and  drop  below  the  margin  of  respectability  alto- 
gether. Yet  so  fascinating,  bright,  and  lively  are  these 
geishas  that  many  of  them  have  been  taken  by  men  of 
good  position  as  wives,  and  are  now  the  heads  of  the 
most  respectable  homes.  Without  true  education  or 
morals,  but  with  thorough  training  in  all  the  arts  and 
accomplishments  that  please,  —  witty,  quick  at  repartee, 


234  DUX  CHBISTUS 

pretty,  and  always  well  dressed,  —  the  geisha  has  proved 
a  formidable  rival  for  the  demure,  quiet  maiden  of  good 
family,  who  can  give  her  husband  only  an  unsullied 
name,  silent  obedience,  and  faithful  service  all  her  life. 
The  freedom  of  the  present  age,  and  as  seen  in  the  choice 
of  such  vidves,  has  presented  this  great  problem  to  the 
thinking  women  of  Japan.  If  the  wives  of  the  leaders 
in  Japan  are  to  come  from  among  such  a  class  of  women, 
something  must  be  done,  and  done  quickly,  for  the  sake 
of  the  future  of  Japan ;  either  to  raise  the  standards  of 
the  men  in  regard  to  women,  or  to  change  the  old  system 
of  education  for  girls.  A  liberal  education  and  more 
freedom  in  early  life  for  women  has  been  suggested,  and 
is  now  being  tried,  but  the  problem  of  the  geisha  and  her 
fascination  is  a  deep  one  in  Japan.  —  Alice  M.  Bacon. 


The  Samurai  Women 


As  the  government  of  the  land  to-day  lies  in  the  hands 
of  the  samurai  men  under  the  emperor,  so  the  progress 
of  the  women,  the  new  ideas  of  work  for  women,  are  in 
the  hands  of  the  samurai  women  led  by  the  empress. 
AVherever  there  is  progress  among  the  women,  wherever 
they  are  looking  about  for  new  opportunities,  entering 
new  occupations,  elevating  the  home,  opening  hospitals, 
industrial  schools,  asylums,  there  you  will  find  the  lead- 
ing spii-its  always  of  the  samurai  class. 

—  Alice  M.  Bacon. 


The  Native  Christian  Women 

How  do  they  [the  Christian  Japanese  women]  work? 
In  the  churches  they  spend  much  time  in  calling,  look- 
ing up  the  delinquents,  reading  the  Bible  with  inquirers 
or  those  young  in  the  faith,  visiting  the  sick  and  afflicted, 
caring  for  the  dying  and  the  dead,  holding  meetings  for 
Bible  study,  and  for  mutual  improvement.  They  are  the 
servants  of  the  church  in  every  good  work.     They  may 


woman's  work  for  woman       235 

be  found  in  both  city  and  country,  from  the  Hokkaido  to 
Kiushiii,  and  one  is  in  Honohilu.  In  some  cases  they 
have  for  years  held  togetlier  pastorless  churches.  In 
country  work,  where  the  church  is  often  scattered  over  a 
large  field,  the  woman  lives  in  one  centre  and  the  pastor 
in  another,  both  going  the  rounds  of  the  different  places. 
When  the  missionary  lady  comes  to  her  in  her  tours,  she 
makes  long  lists  of  houses  to  be  visited,  and  gives  an 
insight  into  the  peculiar  needs  of  each  house,  so  that  the 
spiritual  physician  may  know  how  to  adapt  her  medicine 
to  the  patient.  As  wives  of  pastors  we  hope  and  believe 
they  supplement  the  work  of  their  husbands,  both  in  the 
home  and  in  aggressive  work.  We  have  in  mind  some 
who,  without  neglecting  the  home,  do  the  full  work  of  an 
evangelist  in  the  church,  and  are  well  spoken  of  by  all 
who  know  them. 

In  working  with  lady  missionaries,  these  women  are 
eyes  and  ears  and  hands  and  feet  and  tongues.  They  do 
the  correspondence  wliich  the  peculiarities  of  this  lan- 
guage forbid  our  doing  for  ourselves.  They  get  at  the 
heart  of  the  things  which  would  never  come  to  the  ears 
of  the  foreigner,  except  through  them,  and  bridge  over 
the  space  which  separates  her  from  the  people,  interpret- 
ing her  heart  to  them.  —  M.  J.  Hakijows. 


ClIHISTIAN    EnrCATION 


By  the  law  and  order  of  the  kindergarten,  by  the 
cleanliness  and  attractiveness  of  the  rooms,  by  the  sun- 
siiine  and  pure  air,  by  the  energy  and  diligence  of  their 
hours  of  work,  by  the  rhythm  and  music,  by  the  kindness, 
love,  and  cheerfulness,  by  the  obedience  and  good  fellow- 
si  ii]i,  l)y  the  beauty  and  miracle  of  nature,  by  the  sacred 
songs  and  daily  prayer,  by  the  stories  from  the  Holy 
Word,  from  history,  fable,  and  purest  fiction  —  by  all 
these  the  ideals  of  the  Christian  faitli  are  held  up  day  by 
day  to  these  little  ones,  and  no  more  quickly  do  their  eyes 
drink  in  the  glory  of  the  blossoms  than  their  hearts  take 
in  the  lessons  of  right  living  and  right  belief. 


236  DUX  CHRISTU8 

One  of  the  most  noted  of  Japanese  statesmen  has  re- 
cently said,  "  It  had  been  thought  that  by  using  superior 
ethical  text-books,  and  by  changing  the  system  of  teach- 
ing, the  whole  nation  would  be  transformed,  but  suddenly 
disclosures  are  made,  which  show  that  the  ethical  reform 
is  a  mere  make-believe,  and  that  low  principles  and  cor- 
ruption prevail  almost  everywhere."  —  A.  L.  Howe. 

I  shall  not  argue  for  the  benefits  of  Christian  missions. 
I  will,  however,  cite  certain  instances  to  show  the  moral 
standing  of  the  masses,  and  to  explain  what  heathenism 
really  means.  Teaching  as  I  did  in  a  Government  school 
of  five  hundred  pupils,  there  were  naturally  rare  oppor- 
tunities of  studying  the  inner  life  of  the  people.  I  once 
gave  this  subject  for  essays,  —  "  The  Noblest  Thing  I  ever 
Heard  of."  I  wished  to  discover  the  ideals  of  Japanese 
boys.  What  things  do  they  deem  noble  and  good  and 
true  ?  Who  ai-e  their  heroes  ?  What  are  their  best  views 
of  life?  The  China-Japan  War  had  just  closed.  .  .  . 
When  Admiral  Ting's  fleet  was  surrounded,  he  surren- 
dered it  promptly  enough,  but  he  felt  that  it  would  be  a 
supreme  disgrace  to  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  China 
to  have  one  of  his  highest  officials,  Ting  himself,  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Ting,  therefore,  killed  himself, 
out  of  respect  to  the  Emperor. 

What  would  have  been  the  feelings  of  the  North  for 
Robert  E.  Lee,  if,  rather  than  share  the  fate  of  the  gallant 
men  he  had  surrendered,  he  had  committed  suicide  from 
a  sense  of  devoted  patriotism?  North  and  South  would 
have  alike  despised  him.  And  yet  nine  out  of  ten  of  my 
Japanese  boys  wrote  of  the  suicide  of  Admiral  Ting  as 
the  noblest  thing  of  which  they  had  ever  heard.  If  a 
suicide  is  their  ideal,  and  if  hara-kiri  is  the  best  thing 
they  know,  what  shall  we  suppose  is  the  worst  ?  .  .  .  The 
system  of  ethics  teaches  that,  next  to  the  State,  one  owes 
duty  to  his  parents.  This  has  a  pleasant  enough  sound ; 
Japanese  filial  piety  is  a  very  attractive  phrase  indeed. 
But  here  is  an  illustration  of  what  it  sometimes  appears 
in  practice.  Just  after  we  landed,  the  newspapers  were 
full  of  the  story  of  an  ignorant  peasant  in  the  interior, 


woman's  work  for  woman       237 

who  was  greatly  troubled  in  mind  by  the  fact  that  his 
aged  motlier  seemed  to  be  losing  her  sight.  He  tried 
many  remedies,  but  in  vain.  Then  he  sought  the  assist- 
ance of  his  religion.  He  went  to  a  priest,  perchance  to 
a  so-called  wizard,  and  asked  for  advice  on  the  subject. 
Filialism  being  vital,  the  oracle  inquired,  "  Are  you  will- 
ing to  do  anything  to  save  your  mother's  sight  that  the 
gods  may  require  ?  "  "  Yes,"  the  poor  man  said,  "  I  am." 
Then  the  hideous  answer  came,  "  Feed  her  a  human  live'-, 
and  her  sight  will  be  restored."  A  very  shrewd  answer, 
one  would  say,  because  it  could  not  be  obeyed.  .  .  .  The 
only  possibility  of  testing  the  fiendish  remedy  was  by 
slaying  one  of  his  own  household.  He  had  but  one  child, 
a  mere  babe.  His  love  for  his  child  was  great.  This 
man,  however,  was  more  than  a  father,  he  was  a  religious 
devotee.  .  .  .  One  night  he  took  his  sleeping  child  out 
into  the  little  garden  and  was  about  to  slay  it  with  a 
knife.  In  some  way  the  mother  heard  and  understood. 
She  begged  the  man  to  spare  the  child.  He  told  her  of 
the  words  of  the  oracle;  he  reminded  her  of  the  supreme 
demands  of  filial  piety  and,  while  she  agreed  with  him  in 
the  theory,  her  mother  love  was  stronger  than  anything 
else  and  she  implored  him  to  spare  her  child.  The  man 
was  inexorable.  "  Oh,"  she  said  at  last,  "  if  the  gods 
must  be  obeyed,  take  me,  but  spare  my  baby."  At  length 
he  yielded  to  her  request.  The  wife  died  at  her  hus- 
band's hands  and  the  gods  were  satisfied. 

Is  it  not  a  fearful  thing  to  see  one  of  the  holiest  feel- 
ings of  humanity,  this  sentiment  of  filial  piety,  made  into 
a  horror  at  which  devils  well  might  shudder?  But  the 
strangest  part  of  my  story  is  yet  to  come.  I  said  that 
nine  out  of  ten  of  my  pupils  wrote  of  the  suicide  of  Ad- 
miral Ting  as  the  noblest  thing  of  which  they  had  ever 
heard.  One  of  them,  however,  actually  chose  the  deed 
that  has  just  been  described  —  not  the  self-sacrifice  of  the 
mother,  but  the  inhuman  sacrifice  on  the  part  of  the  hus- 
band and  father.  —  From  "Japan  To-day,"  by  Schkker. 

An  eminent  Japanese  Confucianist,  in  hLs  famous 
treatise  on  "  The  Whole  Duty  of  Woman,"  delights  in 


238  DUX  CHRISTUS 

deliverances  such  as  these  :  The  five  worst  malddies  that 
afflict  the  female  mind  are,  —  indocility,  discontent,  slan- 
der, jealousy,  and  silliness.  Without  any  doubt  these  five 
maladies  infest  seven  or  eight  out  of  every  ten  women, 
and  it  is  from  these  that  arises  the  inferiority  of  women 
to  men.  Woman's  nature,  in  comparison  with  man's,  is  as 
the  shadow  to  the  sunlight.  Hence,  as  viewed  from  the 
standard  of  man's  nature,  the  foolishness  of  woman  fails 
to  understand  the  duties  that  lie  before  her  very  eyes, 
perceives  not  the  actions  which  will  bring  down  blame 
upon  her  own  head,  and  comprehends  not  even  the  things 
that  will  bring  down  calamities  on  the  heads  of  her  hus- 
band and  children.  Such  is  the  stupidity  of  her  char- 
acter that  it  is  incumbent  on  her,  in  every  particular,  to 
distrust  herself  and  to  obey  her  husband. 

—  From  "  Japan  To-day,"  by  Scherer. 

The  teachings  of  Confucius,  as  recorded  by  an  eminent 
Japanese  Conf  ucianist,  state  these  "  Seven  Reasons  for 
Divorce  "  :  — 

1.  A  woman  shall  be  divorced  for  disobedience  to  her 
father-in-law  or  mother-in-law. 

2.  A  w^oman  shall  be  divorced  if  she  fail  to  bear  chil- 
dren, the  reason  for  this  rule  being  that  women  are  sought 
in  marriage  for  the  purpose  of  giving  men  posterity. 

3.  Lewdness  is  a  reason  for  divorce. 

4.  Jealousy  is  a  reason  for  divorce. 

5.  Leprosy  or  any  like  foul  disease  is  a  reason  for 
divorce. 

6.  A  woman  shall  be  divorced  who,  talking  over  much 
and  prattling  disrespectfully,  disturbs  the  harmony  of 
kinsmen  and  brings  trouble  on  her  household. 

7.  Stealing  is  a  reason  for  divorce. 

It  is  little  wonder  that  the  disciples  of  such  men  hold 
women  in  unutterable  contempt. 

—  From  "  Japan  To-day,"  by  Schereb. 


woman's  wore  for  woman       239 


THEMES   FOR   STUDY   AND   DISCUSSION 

I.    The  Position  of  Woman  under  Sliinto,  Buddhism, 
Confucianism. 
II.    The  Story  of  the  Earliest  Missionary  Interest  in 
Japan. 

III.  Woman  in  Japanese  Literature. 

IV.  Woman  in  Japanese  History. 

V.    Japanese  l^ove  of  Beauty.    How  it  may  be  Utilized 

for  Religion. 
VI.    The  Bej^innings  of  Christian  Art. 
VII.    The  Grip  of  Priestcraft,  from  the  Cradle  to  the 
Grave. 
VIII.    Foreign  Society  at  the  Seaports.     Its  Influence. 
IX.    The  Nine  Female  Mikados. 
X.   Japanese  Woman  in  the  Eye  of  the  Law. 
XL    The  Real  Japanese  Woman  cs.  the  Geisha,  and  in 

Fiction. 
XII.    The  Pagan  and  the  Christian  Home  in  Japan. 

BOOKS   FOR   REFERENCE, 

A.  M.  Bacon.  "Japanese  Girls  and  Women."  Hough- 
Um,  .Mifflin  &  Co. 

A.  M.  Bacon.  "  A  Japanese  Interior."  Houghton, 
Mitflin  &  Co. 

A.  C.  Ilartshorne.  "Japan  and  Her  People."  Portei  & 
Coates. 

FL  S.  Morse.  "Japanese  Homes  and  Their  Surround- 
ings."    Harpers. 

E.  R.  Scidmore.     "  Jinrikisha  Days  in  Japan."     Harpers. 

II.  Eraser.     "Letters  from  Japan."     The  Macmillan  Co. 

i\I.  S.  Bramhall.     "  Wee  Ones  of  Japan."     Harpers. 

I.  B.  Bishop.  "  Unbeaten  Tracks  in  Japan."  G.  P. 
Putnam's  Sons. 

Shigemi.  "  A  Japanese  Boy."  New  Haven.  G.  B. 
Sheldon  &  Co. 

J.  A.  Scherer.     "Japan  To-day."     J.  B.  Lippincott  Co. 

N.  Tamura.     "  The  Japanese  Bride."     Harpers. 


CHAPTER   VI 

FORCES    IN   THE   CONFLICT 

A  Semi-centennial  of  Gratitude.  —  Fifty  years 
after  the  opening  to  the  world  of  the  empire 
of  Japan  by  the  treaty  of  Commodore  Perry, 
the  anniversary  was  joyfully  celebrated  in  To- 
kio  in  the  hall  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association.  At  this  meeting  veteran  states- 
men, Japanese  and  English-speaking  Christians, 
in  large  numbers,  were  present,  packing  the  hall 
to  its  full  capacity.  The  speeches  of  Hon.  S. 
Shimada  and  Count  Okuma,  the  one  the  pupil  of 
Dr.  Brown  and  the  other  of  Dr.  Verbeck,  called 
attention  to  the  debt  of  gratitude  which  Japan 
owed  to  America  for  Perry  and  Harris,  and  for 
the  great  courtesy  of  the  American  people  to 
the  first  Japanese  embassy  of  1859.  It  was  de- 
clared that  one  reason  why  Japan,  unlike  China, 
was  free  from  "  religious  troubles,"  such  as 
conflicts  between  adherents  of  Christianity  and 
non-converts,  was  owing  to  many  causes,  but 
especially  to  one;  namely,  "the  superior  per- 
sonal character  of  those  who  first  represented 
Occidental  civilization  in  the  fields  of  reli- 
gion and  education  "  in  Japan,  of  whom  some 
were  mentioned  by  name.  "  Japan,"  said  the 
first  speaker,  "has  definitely  identified  her- 
240 


FORCES   IN   THE  CONFLICT  241 

self  with  the  Anglo-Saxon  type  of  civilization 
which  was  characterized  by  its  love  of  free- 
dom, equality,  and  progress."  Count  Okuma, 
the  second  speaker,  showed  how  necessary  for 
the  success  of  Christian  missions  it  was,  that  not 
only  the  pioneers,  but  also  their  successors,  should 
be  persons  of  high  moral  and  intellectual  char- 
acter. It  was  largely  through  the  embassy  of 
1859  to  the  United  States  that  English  instead 
of  Dutch  became  the  standard  foreign  language, 
which  has  had  such  a  far-reaching  effect 
on  the  mental  bias  of  the  Japanese  people, 
and  the  character  of  the  national  development. 
Then  Bishop  McKim  proposed  the  formation 
of  a  Perry  Memorial  Relief  Fund,  in  aid  of 
the  destitute  families  of  Japanese  sailors  and 
soldiers.  Over  sixty-three  thousand  yen  were 
raised  on  the  spot.  Tiie  meeting  closed  with 
Banzai  (long  live)  and  cheers,  for  Mikado  and 
President,  and  singing  of  the  hymn  sung  at 
Sabbath  worship  on  Perry's  flag-shij)  fifty  years 
ago,  —  "  Before  Jehovah's  awful  throne,"  and 
the  national  Japanese  anthem.  Tlius  was  cele- 
brated the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  international 
friendship.  Other  similar  associations  for  relief 
were  formed  by  foreigners  in  Japan. 

Japan's  Spiritual  Poverty.  —  ''  Charity  is  be- 
yond tlie  pale  of  polities.'"  In  tiiis  spirit  we 
survey  the  past  and  look  to  the  future  of  the 
new  life  upon  which  Japan  has  entered.  Her 
competition  with  other  nations  and  types  of 
civilization  will  be  not  only  economic  and 
military,  as  it  is  in  this  epoch  of  struggle  with 


242  DUX  CHBISTU8 

Russia,  but  on  the  nobler  heights  of  moral 
excellence  also.  To  maintain  her  career  it  will 
be  necessary  for  Japan  to  draw,  not  only  upon 
all  her  own  resources,  but  to  develop  new  forces 
and  summon  into  existence  new  potencies. 
Ignoring  political,  military,  and  economic  ques- 
tions, let  us  survey  the  situation  from  the  view- 
point of  morals  and  religion. 

How  pitiful  to  think  that  the  Japanese  as  a 
people  have  no  God,  and  that  many,  in  their 
ignorance  and  pride,  think  that  they  can  get 
along  without  Him.  The  soldier,  leaving  na- 
tive land  and  home,  to  face  death  and  eternity, 
can  go  to  no  divine  Father  to  seek  strength. 
He  can  only  visit  the  graves  of  his  fathers,  or 
before  an  idol  offer  sacrifice.  Even  the  rulers 
of  the  land  pray  only  to  that  vague  bundle  of 
laws  and  forces  called  "  Heaven."  First  of  all, 
beyond  locomotives,  steamships,  or  gunpowder, 
the  Japanese  need  God  and  real  religion.  As  a 
native  editor  sadly  writes,  even  after  Japan  had 
her  constitution  and  Imperial  Diet,  "  We  have 
imported  a  great  political  machine,  but  we  have 
not  the  moral  oil  to  make  it  work." 

No  splendor  of  modern  civilization  in  Japan, 
in  this  day,  after  forty  years  of  the  diffusion  of 
Christian  influences,  should  blind  the  student 
of  truth  to  the  awful  facts  of  Japanese  paganism 
as  they  were  in  1859,  when  the  missionaries 
first  arrived,  nor  to  the  spiritual  destitution 
of  to-day.  Vice,  crime,  cruelty,  disease,  and 
wickedness  in  high  and  low  places  ran  rampant. 
Superstition  had  reached  terrible  proportions. 


FORCES  IN  THE  CONFLICT  243 

A  thousand  years  of  oppression  by  the  sword, 
while  developing  a  ruling  minority  of  soldiers, 
had  made  tlie  majority  of  the  people  menial  in 
spirit  and  cringing  in  attitude. 

About  one-tenth  of  the  population,  paying  no 
taxes  or  tolls,  lived  upon  the  sweat  and  labor  of 
the  working  classes.  About  four  hundred 
thousand  men  wore  each  a  brace  of  sharp 
swords,  Avhich  were  used  all  too  freely.  These 
two-sworded  gentlemen  were  too  often  ruffians 
and  looked  witli  contemjjt  upon  merchants  and 
traders.  Probably  a  million  people,  called  eta 
and  hi-nin,  were  considered  below  humanity. 
"  Morses  and  beggars "  washed  in  one  pool. 
'•■  Brutes,  dogs,  and  women  "  was  the  reading  of 
many  a  proliibition  at  holy  places.  Gambling 
that  kept  gangs  of  men  naked  even  in  winter, 
beggary  that  filled  the  highroads  with  filthy 
and  diseased  importunates,  disease  that  made 
sickening  sights  and  often  left  long  unburied 
carcasses  in  the  road,  were  among  things  com- 
mon and  seen  by  the  writer  in  1870.  The 
obscenity  of  thought,  word,  and  deed  in  com- 
mon life,  in  the  popular  literature,  together 
with  pubUc  exhibitions  of  vileness  even  in  the 
celcbriilions  of  religious  functions,  was  startling. 
The  standard  of  ethics  between  the  sexes  seemed 
ill  many  ways  to  be  below  that  of  the  Indians. 
There  was  among  all  classes  little  or  no  concep- 
tion of  right  for  the  sake  of  right.  If  it  were 
of  advantage  to  be  honest,  a  man  was  honest. 
If  dishonesty  seemed  a  benefit,  a  man  was  dis- 
honest.    The  pagan  festivals,  temple  taxes,  and 


244  DUX  CHRISTU8 

assessments  kept  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
priests,  monks,  nuns,  and  their  hangers-on  in 
comparative  idleness.  An  enormous  amount  of 
land  was  owned  by  the  temples  and  monasteries, 
and  the  revenues  were  spent  in  luxury  by  the 
priests  of  the  hierarchy.  The  laws  were  exces- 
sively cruel  and  the  punishments  revolting.  A 
common  sight  w^as  that  of  heads  cut  off  and 
exposed  on  pillories  or  set  on  posts,  strapped  on 
with  iron  and  by  nails  driven  into  the  skull. 
Witnesses  were  examined  under  torture,  and  the 
jails  were  cold  and  filthy.  The  Chinese  theory 
that  an  accused  man  is  guilty  until  he  proves 
himself  innocent  was  and  is  the  rule.  Disease 
of  the  foulest  sort  was  prevalent  and  but 
slightly  checked.  The  classes  were  marked  off 
by  rigid  costume  and  severe  sumptuary  laws. 
In  a  word,  not  to  multiply  details,  here  were 
the  Middle  Ages  with  paganism  rampant. 
While  many  evils  were  due  to  bad  government 
and  to  hermit  isolation,  most  of  them  could  be 
set  down  to  human  sin  and  selfishness.  Even 
in  art  there  was  no  conception  of  the  value  of 
humanity  as  such,  and  sj^mpathy  for  the  lowly 
and  suffering  seemed  lacking  in  the  Japanese 
character. 

The  Absence  of  a  Just  Sense  of  Personality.  — 
Down  at  the  bottom,  what  real  worship  the 
Japanese  had  was  ancestor  worship.  The  sense 
of  personality  and  of  individuality,  always  weak 
where'  paganism  rules,  even  yet  makes  the 
Japanese  very  anxious  to  preserve  "  the  house," 
"the  name,"  the  blood   line   rather   than   the 


FORCES  IN  THE  CONFLICT  245 

person  or  the  reality.  One  may  often  ask  of  a 
native  near  his  home,  with  the  Japanese  words 
but  in  our  idea,  "  How  long  have  you  lived 
here  ? "  and  get  the  innocent,  and,  in  the  old 
view  of  things,  a  perfectly  accurate  answer,  that 
might  suggest  that  Methuselah  was  still  around 
—  "Four  or  five  hundred  years."  The  house 
is  everything,  the  individual  nothing.  One 
must  ask,  "  How  long  have  i/ou,  yourself,  only, 
lived  here  ?  "'  to  get  the  answer  that  reality  and 
appearances  would  suggest,  A  Japanese  man 
looks  witli  horror  on  his  name  or  his  house  dis- 
appearing. "  Why  didn't  Washington  adopt  a 
son,  and  save  his  house  from  dying  out,"  asked 
a  gentleman  of  Nip})on  of  an  American  mission- 
ary, while  oi  the  writer  one  inquired,  "  Do  the 
Americans  worshij)  Washington  ?  "  So  long  as 
tlie  Japanese  keep  up  ancestral  sacrifices,  which 
they  borrow(;d  from  the  Chinese,  they  will  be 
Oriental  and  like  those  from  whom  they  bor- 
rowed, and  not  truly  a  nu)dern,  progressive 
l)eople.  One  reason  why  so  much  of  Japanese 
family  and  so-called  national  history  is  worth- 
less, is  because,  in  examining  it,  we  are  dealing 
with  so  many  mere  names  and  shadows  and  not 
with  things,  persons,  and  realities.  In  most 
offtcial  books  and  history,  "  lineage,"  "  geneal- 
ogy," "  succession,"  "generation,"  mean  next  to 
nothing  to  a  critical  Western  reader.  We  re- 
peat it  with  emphasis,  that  so  long  as  the  Japan- 
ese cling  to  this  system,  for  which  Buddhism  and 
CJhinese  notions  are  so  largely  responsible,  they 
will  not  be  recognized  either  by  courts,  scholars, 


246  DUX  CHBISTU8 

or  Christian  people  generally  as  intellectual  or 
social  equals.  It  is  impossible  to  feel  sympathy 
with  or  go  into  mourning  for  relatives,  whether 
plebeian  or  imperial,  who  are  such  in  name  only. 
In  a  word,  common  honesty  will  improve  both 
the  commercial  and  the  social  reputation  of  any 
nation. 

The  Moral  Conflict.  —  In  the  battle  for  Christ 
and  his  righteousness  which  the  Japanese  Chris- 
tians, aided  by  their  friends  and  fellow-servants 
of  Jesus  from  lands  afar,  are  fighting,  there  are 
already  arrayed  the  multitudinous  forces  of 
both  light  and  darkness.  Atheism,  paganism, 
agnosticism,  pride  and  conceit,  false  patriotism, 
intemperance,  prostitution,  lying,  licentiousness, 
and  manifold  phases  of  evil  confront  holy  zeal, 
purity,  faith,  chastity,  truth,  and  the  spirit  and 
forms  of  righteousness  in  the  individual,  the 
family,  and  the  nation.  Nevertheless,  there  is 
abundant  ground  for  hope,  when  we  make  sur- 
vey of  the  progress  made  since  the  whistle  of 
the  American  steamers  awoke  old  Japan  out  of 
her  hermit  sleep.  So  far  from  being  jealous 
of  the  Japanese  doing  so  much  for  themselves, 
let  us  rejoice  and  give  thanks  to  God  that 
instead  of  collision  there  have  been  ever  grow- 
ing new  resultants  of  forces,  and  that  so  much 
good  has  been  wrought  even  though  not  in  the 
name  of  Christ.  The  day  will  come  yet  when 
the  Japanese,  instead  of  ascribing  results  and 
giving  all  praise  to  earthly  rulers  and  ancestors, 
will,  with  even  increase  of  personal  loyalty  to 
their  supreme  ruler  and  obedience  to  the  magis- 


FORCES  IN   THE  CONFLICT  247 

trate,  give  all  glory  to  the  King  Eternal,  to 
whom  it  belongs.  Year  by  year  the  Japanese 
are  outgrowing  their  narrow  notions  and  insular 
character,  and  none  but  the  God  of  the  whole 
earth  will  suftice  for  them  and  us.  As  con- 
ceit melts  away,  deceit  and  self-deception  will 
follow. 

The  Christian  Home. — Nowhere  are  the  re- 
sults of  Christianity  more  evident  than  in  the 
home.  It  is  out  of  this  spring  that  true  national 
life  Hows.  In  the  Christian  home  in  Japan 
love  and  light  rule.  The  sword  is  no  longer 
the  symbol  of  power  here.  Instead  of  a  father 
who  is  a  despot,  overawing  wife,  children 
and  various  adopted  kin,  by  both  legal  and 
brute  force,  we  have  one  whose  rule  is  in  love. 
Authority  is  tempered  by  wisdom,  and  a  sense 
of  responsibility  to  the  Father,  after  whom  every 
fatlu^rhood  is  named.  The  old  idols,  on  the  shelf, 
and  in  the  alcove  or  ancestral  tablet  room,  are 
goiie.  'J'he  degrading  and  debasing  supersti- 
tions are  forgotten  and  die  from  being  untaughl. 
Though  respect  is  paid  to  the  Japanese  law,  now 
based  on  the  Code  Napoleon,  modihed  by  native 
custom,  the  Cliristian  Japanese  family  is  one 
more  like  the  institution  of  the  same  name 
in  Christendom.  'J'he  names  father,  mother, 
brotlier,  sister,  wife,  child,  and  indeed  the  whole 
vocal)ulary  of  household  duty  and  relation,  have 
attained  a  new  depth  and  perspective  of  power 
and  meaning,  while  approaching  the  New  Testa- 
ment standard.  Even  tlie  language  has  been 
in  part  transformed  by  the  indwelling  of  a  new 


248  DUX  CHEISTUS 

spirit.  There  is  much  less  of  habitual  and  in- 
sincere flattery  by  syntax,  prefix,  and  suffix, 
with  less,  also,  of  degrading  and  disgusting 
insinuation.  The  grovelling,  deceitful,  and  oft 
spoken  but  unmeant  subordination  is  much 
less  noticeable  than  of  old.  "  A  man's  a  man  for 
a'  that "  is  getting  to  be  more  and  more  the 
fact  accepted  and  believed.  In  old  Japan  the 
steps  and  grades  of  human  and  social  value 
were  numerous.  Instead  of  less  politeness, 
there  is  more  Christian  courtesy.  Speech  is 
less  fulsome  and  also  less  degrading.  The 
Christian  husband,  for  example,  does  not  speak 
of  his  wife  as  does  the  pagan,  and  he  rightly 
defies  a  brutish  custom  that  may  do  for  Con- 
fucian China  or  Brahman  India,  but  not  for  the 
new  Japan.  Marriage  is  according  to  Chris- 
tian form  and  is  maintained  in  the  Christian 
spirit,  which  means  closer  spiritual  equality 
between  man  and  wife,  and  greater  helpfulness. 
It  is  not  the  relation  of  master  and  servant,  or 
of  "  positive  and  negative,"  so  much  as  comrade- 
ship, the  one  being  "  help  meet "  for  the  other. 
Reared  in  such  an  atmosphere,  the  children 
become  new  beings  in  character  and  out- 
look. 

The  Larger  Patriotism.  — The  strongest  forces 
in  all  Japanese  history  are  reverence  for  the 
Mikado  and  patriotism  founded  upon  the  na- 
tional history  and  tradition.  The  delicate  task 
of  our  fellow-workers  for  Christ  in  Japan  is  to 
show  that  Christianity  knows  no  Asiatic  or 
European,  and  has  nothing  to  do  with  American, 


FORCES  IN   THE  CONFLICT  249 

Englishman,  Russian,  or  Japanese,  as  such,  but 
is  for  needy  and  sinful  man,  for  Jesus  is  the 
Saviour  of  all  that  believe.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  is  nothing  in  Christianity,  which,  rightly 
interpreted  and  applied,  conflicts  with  anything 
that  is  morally  beautiful  in  the  Japanese  family 
or  national  life.  All  attempts  of  the  pagans 
to  bolster  up  Shinto,  Buddhism,  or  Confucian- 
ism, as  the  religion  for  educated  men,  or  to  point 
out  any  real  animosity  between  the  teachings 
of  Jesus  and  sound  ethics,  are  doomed  to  failure. 
It  is  hard  for  men  who  have  been  so  long  hermits 
and  whose  minds  are  unphilosophical  and  matter- 
of-fact,  to  grasp  the  high  ideals  of  Christ,  or  to 
give  up  the  idea  that  Japan  is  the  one  centre  of 
the  universe ;  but  the  light  will  dawn  in  spite 
of  their  fortified  ignorance.  For  various  reasons 
there  have  been  ebb  and  flow,  action  and  reaction, 
in  the  remaking  of  pagan  into  Christian  Japan. 
The  best  missionaries  do  not  observe  the  clouds 
but  keep  on  sowing  the  seed.  They  hold  out- 
ward influences  less  and  preach  and  follow 
Christ  more  in  both  word  and  work. 

Untruthfulness.  —  Let  us  note  the  influences 
that  are  hostile  to  pure  religion.  There  is  the 
national  love  of  untruthfulness,  for  it  may  be 
said  that  love  of  truth  for  its  own  sake  is  not 
the  characteristic  of  the  natural  man  anywhere, 
and  the  blush  of  shame  is  not  yet,  even  in  this 
"  nation  of  artists,"  the  usual  concomitant  of 
one's  being  caught  in  a  falsehood.  A  tremendous 
revolution  in  language,  literature,  and  social 
habits  is  necessary  in  order  to  make  Japanese 


260  DUX  CERISTUS 

reputation  for  truth  increase,  yet  we  are  happy 
to  say  that  such  a  revolution  is  in  progress. 
Alread}'^  the  Bible  and  the  thoughts  gen- 
erated by  a  knowledge  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 
are  powerfully  affecting  the  common  speech, 
and  we  believe  slowly,  but  surely,  personal 
and  national  character.  Even  the  low  standard 
of  commercial  integrity  in  Japan,  so  rank  in 
the  nostrils  of  the  foreign  merchant,  the  by- 
word of  the  civilized  world,  and  in  painful  con- 
trast even  to  that  of  the  Chinese,  is  improving. 
For  the  spirit  of  trickery  in  trade  there  are 
historical  reasons.  For  centuries  the  trader 
was  socially  low.  His  bad  repute  was  often 
too  well  deserved.  Yet  after  all  explanation 
and  allowance,  it  is  sadly  true  that  the  race  to 
attain  a  high  level  of  truth  and  honesty  is  even 
yet  by  the  steps  of  the  tortoise,  rather  than  by 
the  leaps  of  the  greyhound.  Nevertheless,  the 
lesson  of  truth  for  its  own  sake  is  through  sheer 
necessity  being  slowly  learned.  In  freely  pub- 
lishing facts  and  instilling  lessons  of  frankness, 
the  government  of  the  Mikado  has  set  a  noble 
example  as  compared  with  the  old  secrecy,  mys- 
tery, and  official  falsehood. 

Worldliness  at  the  Seaports.  —  One  distinctly 
hostile  influence  which  retards  Christianity  in 
Japan,  and  acts  like  perpetual  winter  in  chill- 
ing missionary  zeal  and  influence,  is  the  life  of 
many  foreign  residents  at  the  seaports.  We 
wrote,  thirty  years  ago,  concerning  the  inabil- 
ity of  many  tourists,  temporary  residents,  and 
even  old  inhabitants  to  understand  the  mission- 


FOBCES  IN  THE  CONFLICT  251 

ary's  life,  work,  or  purpose  :  "  It  is  hard  to  find 
an  average  '  man  of  the  world '  in  Japan  who 
has  any  clear  idea  of  what  the  missionaries  are 
doing  or  have  done.  Their  dense  ignorance 
borders  on  the  ridiculous."  The  well-dressed 
people  at  hong,  club,  and  dinner  table,  love 
dearly  to  catch  items  of  stray  gossip  or  slander 
concerning  the  human  failings  of  the  mission- 
aries. One  woman,  whose  life  in  the  East  was 
wholly  occupied  with  society  functions,  came 
liome  to  tell  how  she  had  been  "  two  years  in 
Japan,  and  during  all  that  time  never  saw  one 
Japanese  enter  a  Christian  church."  She  had 
lived  directly  opposite  an  English  church  edifice, 
which  Japanese  do  not  attend,  but  had  never 
entered  nor  inquired  about  any  of  the  four  or 
five  hundred  Japanese  church  edifices  in  the 
country.  When  in  the  country,  I  rarely  heard 
of  a  foreign  tourist  or  merchant  going  to  see 
what  was  done  by  the  missionaries  or  their 
congregations.  Indeed,  it  is  not  likely  that 
men  whose  lives  are  secretly  or  openly  at. 
variance  with  the  plainest  precepts  of  the  re- 
ligion of  Jesus  should  greatly  care  for  what 
Christian  missionaries  are  doing,  except  to  op- 
pose them.  Where  heathen  women  are  cheap 
and  wives  from  home  are  costly,  chastity  is  not  a 
characteristic  trait  of  the  single  men,  nor  are 
they  likely  to  cooperate  with  those  who  would 
lift  up  womanhood  and  make  it  impossible  for 
the  Japanese  to  retain  their  low  notions  about 
one-half  of  their  people.  When  both  native 
and  foreigner  look  upon  every  woman  as  a  child 


252  DUX  CHBISTUS 

of  God,  and  therefore  as  a  sister,  the  social 
atmosphere  of  the  seaports,  so  often  charged 
with  hostility  to  aggressive  Christianity,  as 
well  as  the  world  of  paganism,  will  have  a  new 
spiritual  climate. 

The  Honorable  Christian  Merchant.  —  On  the 
other  hand,  relieving  the  picture,  there  are  the 
honorable  foreign  merchants  with  their  Chris- 
tian families  and  the  Christian  churches,  mak- 
ing a  community  in  hearty  sympathy  with  the 
propagation  of  the  gospel.  These  heartily 
second  all  real  efforts  to  uplift  the  native  popu- 
lation, to  aid  them  in  time  of  calamity  and  dis- 
tress, and  to  save  the  sailor  from  the  saloon  and 
place  of  vice.  Not  a  few  able  and  broad-minded 
missionaries  have  done  a  mighty  work  for 
God  and  man  in  bridging  the  gulf,  not  only 
between  alien  and  native,  but  between  the  com- 
mercial and  missionary  elements.  At  the  pres- 
ent time  the  contrast  in  social  order  and  the 
practice  of  holiness  in  the  seaports  of  Japan 
with  the  early  days,  when  the  worst  elements 
of  paganism  at  home  and  of  nominal  Cliristen- 
dom  from  abroad  met  together,  is  great.  Then 
drunkenness  and  licentiousness,  dishonesty  and 
mutual  distrust,  ran  riot.  American  kidnappers 
sold  Japanese  children  into  slavery,  the  govern- 
ment supposed  that  even  "  missionaries  "  were 
engaged  in  this  nefarious  traffic.  The  gain  in 
mutual  brotherhood  and  the  improvement  in 
morals  and  religion  are  wonderful  and  are  causes 
of  rejoicing. 

Enemies  of  Missions  at  Home.  —  Looking  at 


FORCES  IN  THE  CONFLICT  253 

our  own  home  land,  we  note  the  conditions  which 
make  for  the  continuance  of  spiritual  darkness 
in  Japan.  Tlie  worst  enemies  of  missions  are 
they  who  ignore  or  forget  the  commands  of 
Christ.  They  are  those  so-called  Christians  at 
home  who  live  in  a  narrow  rut  of  spiritual  ex- 
perience, who  are  devoid  of  sympathy  and  vision, 
whose  devotion  is  of  a  shallow  sort,  and  who 
do  not  want  their  consciences  aroused  or  theii- 
pocket-books  touched.  Alas  that  there  are  so 
many  millions  of  this  narrow  type !  Did  the 
Master  describe  their  negative  quality,  when  he 
spoke  of  salt  which  had  lost  its  savor  ?  Another 
antagonistic  influence  is  the  unfashionable- 
ness  of  foreign  missions,  which  to  many  have 
become  an  old  story,  so  that  their  lack  of  imagi- 
nation, of  knowledge,  and  of  broad  human  sym- 
path}^  has  to  be  overcome,  and  their  indifference 
stirred  by  all  the  influences  and  means  which 
prayerful  enterprise  can  bring  to  bear.  With 
the  mad  passion  for  wealth,  display,  and  luxury, 
self-denial  is  not  at  a  premium.  The  passion 
for  dress,  the  mania  for  pleasure,  and  the  organ- 
ization of  amusements  as  an  occupation  instead 
of  diversion,  all  militate  against  obedience  to  the 
spirit  and  letter  of  Christ's  commands.  Some- 
times this  indifference  to  one's  duty  results  di- 
rectly from  the  idle  and  often  morbid  curiosity 
of  people  who  pretend  to  study  Buddhism,  or  the 
ethnic  religions.  Most  of  these  learn  just  about 
enough  to  paralyze  their  own  faith  and  to  make 
them  dangerous  to  others.  When  the  compara- 
tive study  of  religions  is  seriously  attempted 


254  DUX  CHRISTU8 

and  most  earnestly  and  honestly  pursued,  our 
conviction  is  that  we  reach  a  profounder  appre- 
ciation of  the  truth  which  Jesus  taught  and 
lived.  In  most  cases,  however,  to  flirt  with 
Asiatic  systems  of  philosophy  and  idolatry  is, 
for  most  men  and  women  of  divided  mind  and 
shallow  feeling,  only  like  taking  so  much  poison 
into  their  systems.  The  half -educated  Japanese 
pagans  are  only  too  ready  to  mistake  the  atten- 
tion given  to  their  dead  or  dying  cults,  to  mag- 
nify its  importance,  and  to  make  more  difficult 
the  path  of  the  hard- worked  missionary  in  Japan. 

Added  to  these  drawbacks  to  missionarypower, 
which  we  have  already  mentioned,  is  another 
cause  —  that  of  withholding  gifts  for  the  Chris- 
tianizing or  uplifting  of  the  Christian  world  and 
the  spending  of  money  too  lavishly  on  purely 
local  or  selfish  matters.  In  some  Christian  de- 
nominations it  is  a  scandalous  fact,  that  as  many 
as  one-half  of  the  congregations  give  nothing  for 
foreign  missions.  Did  these  delinquents,  who 
plead  poverty  or  "so  many  calls  at  home,"  but 
know  and  believe  it,  unselfish  interest  in  their 
fellows  afar,  who  are  without  Christ,  often  re- 
freshes and  revives  weak  and  dying  churches  at 
home.  More  than  once,  in  the  history  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ,  has  interest  in  foreign  mis- 
sions saved  the  situation,  when  error,  which 
breeds  spiritual  paralysis,  had  permeated  the 
churches. 

The  Returned  Tourist. —  One  notable  influence 
chilling  missionary  zeal  at  home  comes  from  a 
certain  type  of  traveller,  even  from  those  tourists. 


FOBCES  IN   THE  CONFLICT  255 

who  have  returned  from  Japan  with  the  glamour 
of  tlie  geisha,  the  beauty  of  the  scenery,  the 
charm  of  art  works,  the  pleasant  impressions  of 
the  people  and  country  still  fresh  upon  them. 
Most  of  these  smitten  ones  went  out  from  their 
own  land,  having  had  previously,  in  all  proba- 
bility, but  a  shallow  experience  of  Christianity 
or  knowledge  of  it  as  a  world  religion.  With 
narrow  outlook  and  cramped  sympathies,  they 
liad  been  fed  too  scantily  on  the  facts,  and  too 
liberally,  perhaps,  on  the  idea  that  the  "heathen" 
are  all  a  dirty  and  rough  set.  When  therefore 
tliey  found  instead  art,  refinement,  a  love  of 
beauty,  and  many  charming  traits  in  the  Japanese, 
and  things  to  be  desired  in  their  country  and 
civilization,  there  came  a  revulsion  of  feeling. 
Now,  there  is  not  one  element  of  value  in  the 
social,  economic,  artistic,  or  esthetical  system  of 
Japan  worthy  of  praise  or  imitation,  which  we 
could  wish  for  a  moment  to  lessen  or  destroy. 
But  the  ways  and  words  of  these  returned  people, 
even  though  Christians  so-called,  are  not  calcu 
lated  to  make  those  who  hear  tliem  more  like 
the  Master,  or  to  help  an  unseltish  enterprise  like 
foreign  missions.  There  are  few  travellers  who 
spend  a  summer  in  tlie  country,  or  few  residents 
at  ihe  ports  even  for  a  year,  who  can  know  the 
reality  of  pagan  Japan.  Furtliermore,  in  the 
novel,  on  the  stage,  and  in  the  whole  sensational 
literature  generated  by  literary  men  who  find 
Japanese  women  so  cheap  as  well  as  so  charming, 
there  is  bred  an  unwholesome  malarial  opinion. 
When  will  the  day  come  that  the  Japanese  will 


256  DUX  CHBISTUS 

be  ashamed  that  such  books,  as  we  could  name 
by  the  half  dozen,  can  be  written. 

Pagan  Conceit.  —  On  pagan  ground,  hurtful 
influences  ever  militating  against  pure  Chris- 
tianity spring  from  that  conceit  which,  though 
not  peculiar  to  Japanese  human  nature,  is  often 
overweening  where  the  mind  of  the  ignorant 
masses  is  not  dominated  by  science.  Living  on 
an  island  for  ages  and  imagining  themselves  the 
superiors  of  the  whole  world,  the  Japanese  are 
unable  to  shake  off  all  at  once  the  feelings 
inherited  during  centuries.  The  towering, 
almost  Fuji-yama-like  pride  of  the  natives,  fed 
as  it  is  by  paganism,  is  an  enemy  to  the  cross 
of  Christ.  With  slight  sense  of  sin  or  moral 
demerit,  they  find  it  hard  to  understand  what 
the  real  religion  of  Jesus  is,  or  to  see  in  it  any 
beauty  that  they  should  desire.  So  long,  too, 
as  rank  and  office,  medals  and  decorations,  are 
so  valued  in  Japan,  and  as  long  as  their  political 
system  is  so  permeated  with  influences  hostile 
to  spiritual  humility,  it  will  be  difficult  for  a  man 
holding  office  and  receiving  public  pay  to  be  an 
humble  Christian.  Many  an  instance  is  known 
of  young  men  of  promise,  whose  Christian  careers 
were  blighted  by  accepting  a  government  office 
and  salary.  The  pagans  know  this  only  too 
well,  and  even  overwork  the  argument  that  to 
be  a  Christian  is  to  be  recreant  to  patriotism. 
Narrow-minded  bigotry  in  this  way  often  over- 
leaps itself,  revealing  also  its  intense  insular 
conceit  and  pettiness  of  spirit.  Again  and  again 
has  it  been  put  to  confusion,  when  men  eminent 


FORCES  IN   THE  CONFLICT  257 

in  all  lines  of  ability  and  service  to  the  sovereign 
and  nation  have  lived  and  died  as  stalwart 
believers  in  evangelistic  gospel  and  sincere 
followers  of  Jesus. 

Yet  what  we  have  stated  is  but  temporary, 
and  in  the  Christian  Japan  which  is  coming  it 
will  be  less  true.  Even  the  conceited  students  and 
"scientific"  men  so-called,  who  think  they  can 
do  without  God,  can  be  convinced  by  thoroughly 
trained  Christian  men,  whose  lives  adorn  the 
doctrines  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  There  are  already 
in  the  highest  departments  of  the  government 
Christian  men  ;  and,  indeed,  the  number  of  those 
walking  in  the  "Jesus  Way,"  who  are  in  influ- 
ence and  power,  is  out  of  all  proportion  to  the 
numbers  of  church  members  in  the  statistical 
lists.  There  are  over  one  hundred  and  fifty 
oflicers  in  the  army  and  navy,  over  a  score  who 
have  sat  in  the  Imperial  Diet,  besides  leading 
judges,  editors,  jjublishers,  merchants,  whose 
Christian  light  is  shining  and  whose  colors  are 
sliown.  Nor  is  there  any  reason  why  these  should 
not  increase,  making  for  the  stability  of  the 
tlirone,  of  law,  and  of  order,  and  of  the  expan- 
sion of  a  great  and  prosperous  nation  that  shall, 
in  its  future  record,  eclipse  even  the  glories  of 
this  era  of  Meiji,  enabling  Japan,  in  the  sharp- 
est competition  with  most  powerful  nations  of 
earth,  to  hold  her  own  in  the  general  advance. 

The  Freedom  of  Japanese  Society.  —  Happily 
there  is  no  caste  in  Japan.  There  are  grades  of 
society,  but  there  is  nothing  to  hinder  the  poor- 
est commoner  from  becoming  prime   minister, 


258  '     DUX  CHRISTUS 

head  of  the  army,  navy,  or  judicial  system. 
There  is  therefore  none  of  that  invincible  apathy 
toward  new  life,  light,  or  hope,  which  curses  the 
people  of  some  Asiatic  countries.  Nevertheless 
there  is  a  strain  of  something  like  fatalism, 
which  ever  prevents  the  Japanese  from  becom- 
ing a  truly  great  people,  and  which  must  be 
eradicated  before  they  are  fitted  to  become  all 
they  are  capable  of  being.  The  common  feeling 
of  "  it  can't  be  helped  "  is  the  legacy  of  Buddhism, 
but  Christianity,  with  its  richer  hopes  and  surer 
truth,  will  drive  out  this  too  frequent  cry  of 
despair.  Happily  for  Japan,  as  compared  with 
so  much  of  Asia,  she  has  no  foreign  conquerors, 
forcing  either  their  good  or  evil  upon  her  people. 
Happily  too,  thanks  to  Townsend  Harris,  she 
has  no  opium.  This  Christian  gentleman,  who 
initiated  the  officers  of  the  Shogun's  government 
into  the  elementary  principles  of  international 
law  and  custom,  had  a  task,  which,  as  Count 
Okuma  says,  "  demanded  as  much  patience  as 
an  attempt  at  coaching  a  primary  school  boy  for 
a  university  course  would  demand."  Thus,  on 
the  one  hand,  saved  from  many  pitfalls  in  the 
path  of  foreign  intercourse,  Japan  may  congratu- 
late herself.  On  tlie  other  hand,  sad  to  say,  her 
education  lias  been  agnostic  and  pagan.  Japan 
has  tens  of  thousands  of  intellectual  men  who 
have  broken  with  their  past  and  who  scorn  idols, 
but  who  are  devoid  of  moral  foundation,  with- 
out faith  and  without  God  in  the  world.  So 
long  as  the  Japanese  man  who  calls  himself 
cultured  cares  so  little  for  the  real  bases  of  civ- 


FORCES  IN   THE  CONFLICT  259' 

ilization,  as  found  in  the  Christian  religion  and 
in  those  nobler  studies,  thoughts,  and  virtues, 
which  have  made  the  Christian  nations  what 
they  are,  there  will  always  be  an  abyss  between 
himself  and  the  foreigner,  which  no  mere  meet- 
ings at  tlic  dinner  table,  or  operations  at  the 
money  counter,  can  bridge  over.  His  economy, 
his  passivity,  his  politeness,  his  industry,  will 
indeed  make  him  an  interesting  Oriental,  clothed 
it  may  be  in  the  broad  world's  general  costume, 
but  he  will  still  be  morally  stunted  and  dwarfish 
when  compared  with  the  intellectual  and  spir- 
itual stature  of  Clu'istian  manhood. 

Solid  Ground  for  Cheer.  —  Looking  already  at 
what  has  been  gained,  there  is  every  ground  for 
hope  and  rejoicing.  At  home,  despite  the  reign 
of  luxury  and  selfishness,  there  are  signs  of 
promise,  in  an  increasing  perception  of  the 
unity  of  the  race  and  the  brotherhood  of  man,  in 
a  growing  world-consciousness.  Despite  war, 
arbitration  is  making  progress  and  the  Palace 
of  Peace  at  Tlie  Hague  will  yet  have  meaning 
and  potency,  because  the  international  con- 
science is  becoming  more  sensitive.  The  world- 
wide Christian  Endeavor  movement  and  the 
banding  of  young  men  and  women  in  the  Stu- 
dent Volunteer  movement  are  cheering  signs  of 
the  times.  As  on  the  world's  mission  field  to- 
day there  are  workers  in  the  fourth  generation 
of  missionary  service,  even  so  in  Japan  tliere 
are  already  children  in  the  same  length  of  in- 
heritance of  Christian  faitli  and  ideals.  Hap- 
pily the  missionary  movement  is  now  linked 


260  DUX  CHRISTUS 

with  education  and  training  and  backed  by  sys- 
tematic study  and  fresh  information.  The 
missionaries  themselves  form  a  more  thoroughly 
equipped  and  disciplined  company  than  in  any 
preceding  period.  Indeed,  we  may  say  it  with- 
out challenge  that,  take  them  as  a  class,  they 
are  the  most  highly  educated  men  and  women 
in  any  profession  on  earth.  In  Japan  this  fact 
is  being  appreciated  as  well  as  apprehended. 
Nevertheless,  may  the  missionaries  of  to-day 
and  the  future  never  make  education  or  abili- 
ties the  substitute  for  Christian  character,  and 
ever  remember  the  saintliness  as  well  as  abilities 
of  the  pioneers,  and  read  therein  the  secret  of 
their  influence  and  power.  Was  it  not  a  blessed 
providence  that  immediately  on  the  opening  of 
the  country  by  the  Harris  treaty,  consecrated 
missionaries  were  present,  to  be  teachers,  ad- 
visers, helpers,  and,  being  in  close  relation  to 
the  men  who  made  the  present  government, 
became  foster  fathers  of  that  new  nation, 
which  we  believe  is  yet  to  be  wholly  Christian? 
The  missionaries  gave  precedents  and  object 
lessons,  not  only  in  school,  hospital,  dispensary, 
but  in  training  of  young  men  for  representative 
and  parliamentary  government.  They  led  the 
way  in  securing  the  abolition  of  persecution, 
in  the  reform  of  licensed  prostitution  and  the 
abolition  of  female  slavery,  while  creating  a  new 
moral  atmosphere.  Yet  for  the  full  regeneration 
of  the  country,  we  must  not  look  to  the  foreigner, 
whatever  be  liis  gifts  or  graces,  but  to  the  na- 
tives ;  for  "  Japan  for  the  Japanese  "  is  our  cry  also 


FORCES  IN   THE  CONFLICT  261 

and  "the  Japanese  for  Christ"  is  our  hope  and 
prayer.  Happily  in  the  character  of  the  con- 
verts, in  the  teachers,  preachers,  pastors,  and 
leading  members  of  the  church  in  Japan  we 
have  a  rich  augury.  As  statesmen,  soldiers, 
reformers,  they  have  in  practical  ability  shown 
themselves  the  equal  of  their  non-Christian  fel- 
lows, while  many  have  stood  the  severest  tests 
of  discipleship.  We  have  not  space  to  tell  of 
the  persecvitions,  ridicule,  sneers,  and  pagan  op- 
position lived  down,  and  the  mighty  influences 
generated  for  Christ  in  private  and  public  life. 
In  multiplying  Christian  homes,  in  transforming 
social  and  moral  ideals,  in  the  churches,  which 
are  not  only  self-supporting  but  are  missionary 
in  spirit  and  act,  giving  abundantly  out  of  their 
poverty  in  order  to  make  their  fellow-country- 
men Christians,  and  in  the  varied  activities  of 
the  native  home  missionary  societies,  we  see  the 
coming  in  of  the  new  day,  while  in  the  decay 
of  the  pagan  system  we  see  the  passing  of  the 
night. 

Our  Unique  Time  of  Opportunity.  —  The  year 
in  whicli  tliis  bouk  goes  fortli,  with  its  title 
as  a  prayer  in  brief  also,  —  Dux  Christus  — 
may  Ciirist  be  the  leader  of  the  nations,  —  sees 
the  hosts  of  Russia  and  Japan  arrayed  in  war 
against  each  other.  Witli  the  political  issues 
we  as  Christians  have  nothing  to  do,  and  par- 
tisanship ill  becomes  the  peoi)le  of  the  republic 
that  may  be  called  upon  in  future  to  act  as 
mediator  for  peace  between  European  and  Ori- 
ental nations.     Let  us  rather  watcli  the  opening 


262  DUX  CHBISTU8 

of  the  gates  of  opportunity  and  enter  joyfully 
therein.  For  years  to  come,  there  will  be  all 
the  more  need  of  our  prayers,  sacrifices,  and 
labors  for  Japan.  A  veteran  missionary  writes 
in  May,  1904  :  "  This  war  means  for  the  near 
future,  months  and  possibly  years  of  depleted 
church  treasuries,  crowded  but  starving  orphan- 
ages, closed  schools,  and  embarrassment  in  mis- 
sionary work  of  all  kinds,  unless  increased  help 
comes  from  abroad.  ...  It  is  no  time  to 
talk  of  retrenchment.  Forces  and  funds  should 
rather  be  increased.  The  prayers  and  gifts 
of  workers  in  America  are  needed  as  never 
before.  .  .  .  Stand  by  the  missionary  boards. 
.  .  .  Remember  the  Japanese  feeling  is  easily 
stirred  now  by  the  sympathy  and  assistance  of 
foreign  friends.  .  .  .  The  iron  is  hot  and  a  blow 
counts  for  much  in  bending  to  the  right  or  the 
left.  .  .  .  America  has  a  duty  to  perform.  I 
believe  she  will  rise  in  her  strength  and  do  it." 
A  pagan  Japanese  never  forgets  an  injury  and 
to  him  revenge  is  sweet,  but  on  the  otlier  hand 
the  Christian  Japanese  never  forgets  a  kindness, 
and  now  is  the  time  to  build  for  ourselves  ever- 
lasting habitations  of  gratitude.  When  the 
Mikado's  ambassadors  in  the  great  embassy 
round  the  world  in  1872  found  that  for  several 
years,  during  their  civil  war  of  1868,  the 
Japanese  students  left  without  funds  in  Amer- 
ica were  sustained  by  a  company  of  Christian 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  who,  with  no  hope  of  ever 
being  repaid,  met  all  their  expenses,  they  in  a 
letter   to    Dr.   J.   H.    Ferris,  secretary  of   the 


FOliCES  IN   THE  CONFLICT  263 

missionary  board,  declared  that  this  "gener- 
ous conduct  .  .  .  will  do  more  to  cement  the 
friendly  relations  of  the  two  countries  than 
all  other  influence  combined."  Shall  we  not, 
then,  instead  of  the  order  "  Retrench,"  lift  up 
the  cry  "  Freely  we  have  received,  now  let  us 
freely  give,"  and  enter  the  five  great  gates  of 
opportunity  ?  Into  the  evangelistic,  educational, 
medical,  charitable,  and  literary  fields,  may  we 
bring  with  us  what  shall  sustain  these  in  their 
highest  efficiency. 

The  Spirit  of  the  First  Church.  —  The  declara- 
tion of  those  who  founded  the  first  Protestant 
Church  in  Japan  in  1872  was  this  :  "  Our 
church  does  not  belong  to  any  sect  whatever  ; 
it  believes  in  the  name  of  Christ,  in  whom  all 
are  one  ;  it  believes  that  all  who  take  the  Bible 
as  their  guide  and  diligently  study  it  are  the 
servants  of  Christ  and  our  brethren.  For  this 
reason  all  believers  on  earth  belong  to  the 
family  of  Christ  in  the  bonds  of  brotherly 
love."  Nor  let  us  forget  their  spirit  of  se'f- 
support  and  self-propagation.  We  may  safely 
trust  the  Ciiristianity  that  supports  itself  as  far 
as  possible,  remembering  that  the  fifty  thou- 
sand Protestant  Christians  in  Japan  gave  a 
large  proportion  of  the  money  which  has  reared 
the  half  million  dollars'  worth  of  church  property 
already  standing,  and  that  in  1902  they  raised 
over  §^60,000.  Two  Japanese  missionary  boards 
raise  1200  yen  (-t'GOO)  a  year,  supporting  thereon 
fifteen  missionaries.  Rev.  Paul  Sawayama,  the 
first  Japanese   pastor   ordained  in  Japan,  was 


264  DUX  CHRISTU8 

the  pioneer  of  the  gospel  of  self-support,  and  he 
has  had  many  brave  followers.  Can  there  be  a 
surer  test  of  Christian  sacrifice  than  that  of 
these  Christians,  who  hold  to  the  Christ  and 
his  Cross  even  when  it  means  self-denial, 
hunger,  and  impoverishment  ?  Of  these  self- 
supporting  churches,  some  have  a  membership 
of  over  five  hundred,  and  live  and  thrive  with- 
out any  foreign  help  in  purse  or  pulpit. 

On  the  other  hand,  let  us  not  forget  that  in 
the  five  hundred  church  edifices  and  in  thou- 
sands of  groups  of  believers  that  have  no  spe- 
cial building  for  worship,  there  is  immediate 
and  constant  need  of  the  foreign  missionary 
as  pastor,  teacher,  and  provider,  of  the  Bible 
woman  who  must  be  supported,  and  of  the 
gifts  and  help  from  across  the  sea,  in  order  to 
keep  the  lamp  of  truth  brightly  burning  amid 
surrounding  paganism,  and  for  the  training  of 
the  young  and  the  maintenance,  in  manifold 
forms,  of  Christian  activity.  The  great  For- 
ward Movement,  planned  in  1900  and  carried 
on  during  the  Osaka  Exposition  of  1903,  was 
national  in  its  scope,  forty-two  out  of  forty- 
five  provinces  being  reached.  Over  five  thou- 
sand seekers  after  the  way  of  salvation  handed 
in  their  names  as  further  inquirers  after  the 
truth  in  Christ.  The  visits  of  Messrs.  Torrey, 
Mott,  and  Hale  brought  forward  others  who 
would  see  Jesus.  These  must  be  looked  after. 
Whatever  else  is  retrenched,  the  evangelistic 
work  must  be  kept  up  and  expanded.  The 
heart  of  the  nation  is   like   wax   and,   in   the 


FORCES  IX   TUE  CONFLICT  265 

Father's    name,    we    must   stamp   it   with    the 
image  of  Christ. 

Education,  Past  and  Present.  —  The  gateway 
of  educational  work  must  be  thrown  wide  open 
and  entered.  Grand  was  the  pioneer  Neesima, 
and  his  coworker  Colonel  Davis,  who  trusted 
his  Japanese  brother,  "  and  they  twain  were  of 
one  purpose^""  which  is  the  meaning  of  the 
word  Doshisha,  and  the  Christian  university 
arose.  No  threats  of  assassination  or  howling 
of  Buddhist  priests  could  scare  the  soldier  of 
Christ  wlio  had  smelt  powder,  nor  could  any 
warnings  from  America  that  "  the  Japanese 
were  not  to  be  trusted  in  money  matters " 
daunt  him.  Putting  the  American  cash  and 
property  under  Japanese  control,  the  school 
opened  in  1875,  having  eight  pupils  and  two 
teachers,  and  the  work  was  consecrated  with 
the  tender,  tearful,  earnest  prayer  of  this 
Christian  samurai.  Surviving  all  storms  within 
and  without,  the  Doshisha  has  graduated  a  regi- 
ment of  Christian  soldiers,  most  of  whom  to- 
day stand  on  the  high  places  of  usefulness, 
faithful  to  tlie  Great  Captain.  Who  can  for- 
get also  the  work  of  that  other  Union  veteran, 
President  W.  S.  Clarke  of  the  Agricultural 
College  in  Sapporo  in  Yezo,  who,  though  but 
six  months  in  that  city  built  in  the  wilderness, 
shai)ed  the  future  and  character  of  his  pupils 
with  an  amazing  potency,  which  still  abides, 
widening  and  deepening.  Of  his  two  classes, 
thirteen  of  the  first  received  baptism  and  nearly 
all  the  second  class  became  Christians.     Over 


266  LUX  CHRISTU8 

a  score  have  since  taken  degrees  in  European 
and  American  universities.  Among  these  men 
of  high  ideals  and  noble  character  are  Dr. 
Nitobe,  author  of  "  The  Intercourse  between 
the  United  States  and  Japan,"  and  "  Bushido, 
the  Soul  of  Japan,"  Uchimura,  author  of 
"The  Diary  of  a  Japanese  Convert,"  and  the 
president  of  the  institution,  Dr.  Sato,  who  is  a 
prominent  man  in  the  Methodist  Church. 

Another  pioneer  educator  was  Captain  L. 
L.  Janes,  the  head  of  the  Kumamoto  school, 
and  teacher  of  "the  Kumamoto  Band,"  who 
was  met  at  first  by  insult  and  glaring  hatred. 
He  discovered  and  frustrated  a  plot  to  kill  him 
and  his  pupils,  who  later  consecrated  them- 
selves to  richer  Christian  service.  Under 
such  "  beginners  of  a  better  time  "  and  more 
like  them,  have  been  educated  other  followers 
of  Jesus,  thorough  patriots,  who,  though  some- 
times severe  and  critical  of  foreign  ways,  are 
stalwart  believers  in  Christ  and  true  witnesses 
of  him.  To-day  there  are  the  splendid  Meiji 
Hall  of  Learning,  St.  Paul's  College,  and  other 
institutions  in  Tokio  and  the  large  cities,  giv- 
ing higher  training  to  young  men.  With  at 
least  a  dozen  large  boys'  schools,  eleven  theo- 
logical schools,  with  seventy-eight  day  schools, 
including  kindergartens,  there  are  over  ten 
thousand  pupils  of  both  sexes  under  Christian 
instruction.  Why  should  there  not  be  fifty 
thousand,  and  what  would  such  an  increase 
mean  for  the  next  generation? 

The  Triumph  for  Woman's  Education.  —  Tak- 


FORCES  IN   THE  CONFLICT  267 

ing  long  views  and  looking  to  the  future,  we 
discern  tliat  the  slowest  processes  may  be  the 
best.  While  it  is  impressive  to  behold  the 
posts  of  public  activity  and  influence  filled  with 
Christian  men  of  education  and  character,  yet 
for  the  making  of  a  Christian  nation,  no  work 
is  more  fruitful,  in  the  long  run,  than  the  edu- 
cation of  girls  and  the  saving  of  the  home  for 
Christ.  Christian  women  have  seen  this.  To- 
day the  number  of  unmarried  missionary  ladies 
is  said  to  be  greater  than  that  of  all  the  mar- 
ried men  and  tlieir  wives.  Hence,  the  sowing 
of  Japan  with  Christian  girls'  schools.  This 
is  all  the  more  significant,  because  in  the  gov- 
ernment scheme,  while  statistics  show  that 
over  eighty  per  cent  of  the  boys  are  at  school 
in  the  middle  grades,  there  are  but  forty-seven 
per  cent  of  the  girls,  while  in  the  higher 
courses  there  is  only  one  girl  to  seven  boys. 
At  Sendai  a  government  officer  said:  "You 
missionary  ladies  have  done  a  vastly  greater 
work  for  Japan  than  you  ever  dreamed  of. 
Our  government  had  no  hope  for  success  in 
establishing  girls'  schools  until  we  were  in- 
spired by  your  successes.  You  have  been  to 
us  as  timely  reenforcements  to  a  discouraged 
arm}%  and  without  your  example  there  would 
be  no  growing  system  of  higher  female  educa- 
tion." President  Naruse,  the  man  who  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  the  Woman's  University  in 
Tokio,  with  its  eight  hundred  students,  and 
amid  mucli  o})position  and  discouragement  so 
splendidly  carried  it  out,  is  a  man  of  Christian 


268  DUX  CHRISTUS 

faith.  There  are  now  in  Japan  thousands  of 
women  who  in  girlhood  were  brought  under 
the  influence  of  Christian  teaching  and  now 
live  with  vastly  higher  ideals  of  the  home  than 
in  days  within  our  memory.  They  are  steadily 
helping  to  create  that  public  opinion  which 
has  found  expression  in  the  new  Civil  Code  of 
Japan,  in  which  the  word  concubine  does  not 
occur,  and  which  limits  the  old  despotism  of 
parental  authority,  allowing  grown  men  at 
thirty  and  women  at  twenty-five  to  marry 
even  without  parental  consent.  The  new  code 
provides  also  for  the  making  of  wills.  This  in 
time  will  kill  the  abominable  system  of  adop- 
tion that  prevails  in  Japan,  upsetting  our  ideas 
of  heredity,  self-respect,  and  even  decency, 
and  violating  the  true  idea  of  a  family.  In- 
stead of  the  surprise  and  opposition  of  thirty 
years  ago,  there  is  now  a  yearning  for  woman's 
education  throughout  the  whole  nation.  What 
woman's  trained  intellect  and  multiplied  power 
of  hands,  added  to  the  old  virtue  of  sacrifice, 
can  do  in  war  time,  is  seen  in  organization  and 
manifold  adaptiveness  of  effective  effort  that 
would  surprise  those  ignorant  of  the  Japanese 
woman's  abilities.  Let  us  reenforce  all  the 
agencies  that  lift  up  one-half  of  Japan  ! 

The  Field  for  Medical  Work.  —  Let  none  sup- 
pose that  because  medical  science  in  Japan  has 
been  so  fostered  by  the  government,  the  medi- 
cal profession  so  honored  and  embraced  by  am- 
bitious young  men  and  because  the  publicly 
supported  hospitals   are   so   numerous   and  so 


FORCES  IN   THE  CONFLICT  269 

well  equipped,  that  Christians  need  do  nothing 
in  this  field  of  opportunity.  We  must  not  for- 
get the  mighty  initiatory  work  of  Dr.  Hepburn, 
whose  gentle  ministrations  were  as  ram's  horns' 
blasts  to  level  the  wall  of  hatred,  bigotry,  preju- 
dice, nor  that  of  Dr.  Berry,  who  showed  that  the 
j)hysician  could  go  where  the  clergyman  could 
not,  thus  opening  towns  in  which  churches  soon 
sprung  up,  and  who  began  the  first  prison  re- 
form and  first  training  school  for  nurses,  nor  of 
Taylor,  or  Palm,  and  others  whose  names  are 
noted  in  "America  in  the  East."  Yet  we  must 
not  forget  how  wide  is  the  opportunity,  in  that 
all  that  is  given  by  combined  government  and 
private  aid  in  Japan  does  not  yet  amount  to 
over  a  million  of  dollars  a  year,  —  as  compared 
with  eighty  millions  in  the  United  States.  We 
must  not  only  sustain  and  enlarge  Christian 
medical  missions  in  benevolence  and  sympathy, 
but  remember  in  this,  as  in  so  many  lines  of 
humanitarian  work,  we  are  creating  the  public 
opinion  which  will  create  and  sustain  the  gov 
ernment  in  even  grander  leadership  of  develop- 
ment, and  thus  we  help  to  educate  rulers  and 
people  to  greater  efforts.  Dr.  W.  N.  Whitney 
showed  tliat  in  1900,  after  fifteen  years  of  work, 
about  twenty  thousand  people  liad  come  under 
Christian  influences  as  patients,  and  of  those 
scores  had  been  converted.  Even  better  yet, 
Christian  Japanese  physicians  catch  tliis  spirit 
of  loving  service,  hold  meetings  for  nurses  and 
patients  in  Christ's  name,  and  thus  diffuse  in- 
fluences which  bring  in  the  new  world  of  love. 


270  DUX  CHRISTU8 

Besides  the  fourteen  Protestant  hospitals  and 
dispensaries  serving  about  thirty  thousand  pa- 
tients in  a  year,  there  are  also  the  seventeen 
Catholic  dispensaries. 

This  gate  of  opportunity,  at  first  view  seem- 
ingly small,  opens  on  a  boundless  field.  As  we 
traverse  it,  we  see  another  gate  of  opportunity, 
that  of  charitable  work,  and  here  in  Japan  we 
note  one  of  the  great  moral  revolutions  of  the 
world  wrought  within  fifty,  perhaps  we  might 
say  in  thirty,  years.  The  Japanese  are  as  a 
nation  getting  to  have  what  they  did  not  have  be- 
fore, —  ideas,  and  a  conscience  concerning  their 
duty  to  the  blind,  the  insane,  the  starving  poor, 
the  orphans,  the  outcast  and  criminals.  When 
first  in  Tokio,  I  remember  reading,  with,  I  con- 
fess, an  irreverent  and  comical  feeling,  the  notice 
boards,  especially  the  one  that  hung  right  under 
the  anti-Christian  edict  and  sandwiched  in  be- 
tween the  old  text  and  the  new  proclamation. 
It  read:  "  Human  beings  must  carefully  practise 
the  principles  of  the  five  social  relations.  Charity 
must  be  shown  to  widowers,  widows,  orphans, 
the  childless,  and  sick."  Why  widowers  should 
be  first  pitied  was  not  clear,  and  why  the  starv- 
ing and  hungry  were  not  thought  of  seemed 
strange.  In  pagan  Japan  hospitals,  orphanages, 
schools  for  the  insane,  blind,  and  dumb,  system- 
atic or  voluntary  famine  relief,  reform  of  the 
criminal,  tender  relief  of  the  sick  paupers,  were 
practically  unknown.  The  Japanese  were  be- 
nevolent, but  only  in  a  narrow  way.  They  an- 
swered the  question,  "And  who  is  my  neighbor  ?" 


FORCES  IN  THE  CONFLICT  271 

in  the  spirit  of  Confucius,  not  of  Jesus.  Now, 
tlianks  to  the  statistics  of  Dr.  J.  H.  Pettee,  we 
see  that  the  Christians  of  Japan  have  thirty-one 
orphanages,  four  liomes  for  discharged  prison- 
ers, three  blind  asylums,  three  leper  hospitals, 
two  homes  for  the  aged,  five  schools  for  the 
Ainos,  four  free  kindergartens,  ten  industrial 
schools,  ten  other  schools  for  the  poor,  ten  board- 
ing-houses for  students,  and  fourteen  hospitals. 
That  is  to  say,  a  fraction,  one  two  hundred  and 
fiftieth  part  of  the  population  of  the  empire, 
support  about  one-fourth  of  the  organized  be- 
nevolence of  the  land,  and  that  fraction  of  people 
consists  of  the  Christians. 

The  New  Spirit  of  Benevolence. — In  the  old 
famine  days,  no  help  came  into  the  regions  of 
starvation  from  other  quarters.  "Even  Bud- 
dhists with  their  beautiful  teachings  of  mercy 
would  offer  no  help."  But  so  great  have  been 
the  inductive  influences  of  the  West  upon  the 
Ja])anese,  that  their  narrow  ideas  and  charity 
have  been  so  enlarged  that  not  only  has  the  Red 
Cross  Society  in  Japan  the  largest  membership 
in  the  world,  but  the  people  in  general  now 
actually  respond  to  appeals  for  relief  for  the 
sufferers  from  earthquakes,  tidal  waves,  and 
famine  in  distant  places.  These  appeals  are 
heard,  and  contributions  made  from  all  parts  of 
tlie  empire.  For  example,  two  years  ago,  when 
the  rice  crop  failed  at  the  nortiiern  end  of  the 
main  island,  and  over  a  hundred  thousand  people 
were  reduced  to  the  verge  of  starvation,  a  Roman 
Catholic  missionary  published  an  account  of  the 


272  BUX  CHRISTUS 

state  of  affairs.  At  once  the  foreigners  at  the 
seaports  made  a  generous  contribution.  At  first 
the  Japanese  were  slow  to  take  up  the  subject, 
but  the  little  ball  once  started,  an  avalanche  of 
gifts  rolled  down.  The  newspapers  began  sub- 
scriptions, and  the  emperor's  contribution  of 
$11,000  and  that  of  two  millionnaires,  each  for 
$5000,  handsomely  quintupled  the  foreigners' 
gift  of  $12,000.  Not  only  did  the  Japanese 
give  liberally  to  the  Doshisha  university  in 
Kioto,  but  the  great  Ishii  orphanage  of  Okayama, 
first  inspired  by  the  example  of  George  Muller 
of  Bristol,  begun  in  1887,  and  now  caring  for  two 
hundred  and  thirty -six  children,  has  gained  a  list 
of  over  ten  thousand  sustaining  Japanese  mem- 
bers, who  pay  one  yen  a  year.  As  many  pupils  as 
are  now  in  the  Home  have  been  graduated  to  be- 
come useful  members  of  society.  The  children 
themselves,  with  their  stereopticon  expositions 
and  band  concerts,  earned  in  one  year  over 
$7000,  and  the  emperor  has  decorated  Mr.  Ishii 
the  founder. 

Prison  Reform.  —  One  of  the  most  Christlike 
features  of  Christian  work  is  the  reform  of  dis- 
charged prisoners.  The  government,  seeing  the 
value  of  saving  to  society  as  many  as  possible  of 
the  one  hundred  thousand  prisoners  yearly  in- 
carcerated, have  encouraged  this  work.  Out  of 
five  hundred  welcomed  to  Mr.  Hara's  Home  in 
Tokio,  four-fifths  have  become  honest  men  and 
many  of  them  Christians.  Count  Okuma  gave 
a  chrysanthemum  party  in  aid  of  the  Home,  and 
raised  three    thousand  yen  in    one    day.     The 


FORCES  IN   THE  CONFLICT  273 

government  allows  prison  chaplains  and  the 
circulation  of  Christian  books  and  literature. 
Mr.  Tomioka,  who  learned  his  noble  craft  in  the 
reformatories  of  New  York  and  New  England, 
after  having  made  one  of  the  Tokio  prisons 
the  model  for  the  empire,  was  appointed  in- 
structor in  the  School  for  the  Training  of  Prison 
Officials.  He  has  also  started  model  schools 
and  farms  for  saving  and  educating  children 
who  might  become  criminals.  The  govern- 
ment has  taken  up  the  enterprise  of  teaching 
the  blind  and  caring  for  the  insane.  Progress 
will  be  according  to  the  advancement  of  public 
opinion.  Shall  we  not  reenforce  all  these  forms 
of  endeavor  in  Christ's  name  ? 

The  Great  Literary  Opportunity.  —  Last  but 
not  least,  tlie  gateway  of  literary  opportunity 
stands  open  wide.  Once  it  was  death  to  give 
the  Japanese  new  ideas  or  to  print  the  truth. 
I  landed  in  Japan  when  it  had  not  one  news- 
paper or  magazine,  and  to  issue  a  Christian  tract, 
or  part  of  the  Bible,  meant  imprisonment 
and  confiscation  of  property.  The  first  tract, 
a  translation  from  the  Chinese  of  Dr.  D. 
P.  McCartee's  "Easy  Way  of  Understanding 
Christianity,"  had  to  be  printed  secretly.  The 
first  original  tract  in  Japanese,  by  Dr.  Davis, 
saw  the  light  only  after  tremendous  difficulties 
overcome,  but  it  was  circulated  in  ten  tliou- 
sand  copies  within  a  decade.  The  missionaries 
quickly  saw  the  benefit  of  the  printing-press 
and  sent  the  leaves  of  healing  and  truth  all  over 
the  empire,  so  that  now  there  are  four  hundred 


274  DUX  CHRISTU8 

different  tracts,  of  which  millions  of  pages  are 
printed  annually.  The  Japanese  are  eager  to 
read,  and  some  native  publishers  find  that  they 
can  actually  make  a  living  by  issuing  Christian 
literature.  After  the  tracts  came  the  books 
in  translation,  Dr.  W.  A.  P.  Martin's  famous 
work  on  the  "Evidences  of  Christianity"  lead- 
ing off.  After  nearly  thirty  years  of  conse- 
crated labor  the  Bible  in  Japanese  was  ready, 
and  the  winged  word  of  God  flew  over  the 
empire.  Yet  how  can  one  study  the  Bible 
without  helps,  or  the  preacher  or  the  teacher 
preach  and  grow  without  a  library  ?  Dr. 
Hepburn  prepared  the  first  Bible  Dictionary, 
and  Dr.  D.  W.  Learned  has  given  fifteen 
scholarly  volumes  of  commentary  on  the  whole 
New  Testament.  The  vernacular  library  of 
Japanese  Christianity,  whether  translations  or 
originals,  is  now  creditably  full.  Its  contents 
range  from  the  most  learned  works  in  all 
departments  of  theological  science  down  to 
"  The  Common  People's  Gospel,"  of  which  ten 
thousand  copies  were  sold  within  three  years. 
Nearly  every  phase  of  Christian  literature  is 
now  expressed  in  the  Japanese,  and  the  adver- 
tising lists  of  the  native  publishing  companies 
make  interesting  reading.  In  Tokio,  the  Metho- 
dists support  an  establishment  on  the  Ginza,  or 
main  street  in  Tokio,  in  whicli  fifty  persons  are 
employed.  The  Japan  EvangelisU  the  common 
organ  of  all  branches  of  the  Christian  church  in 
Japan,  is  a  monthly  which  should  be  widely 
taken  in  America.     The  biographies  of   great 


FORCES  IN  THE  CONFLICT  275 

men  and  women,  especially  of  those  who  have 
served  the  Lord  Jesus  in  high  stations,  are 
widely  read  by  thousands  of  Japanese  outside 
the  church,  who  are  thus  led  to  inquire  into  the 
secret  of  holy  and  forceful  lives,  and  who  sooner 
or  later  study  the  Book  which  has  made  Chris- 
tian nations  great.  Periodical  Christian  lit- 
erature also  flourishes.  While  the  vernacular 
newspaper  of  each  mission  is  supported  with 
missionary  money,  there  are  able  Christian 
editors  who  have  made  evangelical  periodicals 
pay.  But  far  more  important  than  anything 
that  foreign  missionaries  can  write  are  the 
literary  productions  of  native  Christians,  who, 
liaving  experienced  the  grace  of  God,  use  the 
language  as  if  it  had  been  baptized  unto  new 
power  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  There  are  Christian 
writers  on  the  staff  of  the  so-called  secular  press 
who  in  attractive  language  preach  Christian 
truth,  and  thus  call  many  into  the  holy  path. 
Then  there  are  a  dozen  or  more  eloquent 
preachers  of  the  gospel  who  beyond  their  pul- 
pits reach  tens  of  thousands  through  the  printed 
page.  Christian  professors  in  the  universities, 
statesmen  and  members  of  the  imperial  Diet, 
have  written  books,  rich  in  ethical  instruction 
and  loyal  to  Christ.  Surely  not  the  last,  so 
long  as  the  parables  of  Jesus  are  our  model,  is 
the  use  of  liction  in  enforcing  Christian  truth. 
In  the  new  Japanese  romance  and  novel  the 
themes  and  ideals  first  set  forth  by  Jesus  are 
presented  just  wliere  and  how  millions,  who 
would  not  read   a   serious   book,  can  be  filled 


276  BUX  CHRISTUS 

with  new  ideas.  In  the  novels  informed  with 
the  spirit  of  Christianity  some  of  the  pro- 
foundest  practical  questions  are  treated,  and 
the  search-light  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus 
thrown  on  the  whole  field  of  Japanese  life. 

Christian  Association  Work.  —  Other  gates  of 
opportunity  are  open  for  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  work.  In  the  capital, 
besides  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  Christian 
houses  of  worship,  is  the  imposing  brick  edi- 
fice for  the  helping  and  saving  of  young  men, 
with  its  five  foreign  and  two  Japanese  secre- 
taries, devoted  to  religious  and  social  work. 
Of  this  the  American  minister,  Colonel  A. 
E.  Buck,  said,  "  There  is  perhaps  no  other  build- 
ing in  Tokio  that  stands  more  prominently 
before  the  general  public  as  an  index  of  organ- 
ized Christianity."  The  lectures  delivered  in  its 
great  earthquake-proof  hall  by  noblemen,  famous 
visitors,  men  of  science,  statesmen,  business  men, 
and  leading  preachers  are  published  and  widely 
circulated.  An  endowment  fund  is  needed,  and 
every  large  city  ought  to  have  such  an  associa- 
tion and  edifice.  If  this  be  so  for  the  men,  why 
not  the  same  for  the  women  also  ? 

The  Christian  Endeavor  Movement.  —  But  as 
the  Japanese  secretary  of  a  Christian  Endeavor 
Society  says  :  "  A  church  can't  be  lively  without 
young  folks  any  more  than  a  family  can  be. 
.  .  .  You  can't  get  work  out  of  the  young  un- 
less they  are  organized."  In  1886  the  mission- 
ary children  of  one  of  the  missions  agreed  to  a 
simple  pledge,  and  to-day  there  are  about  eighty 


FORCES  IN   THE  CONFLICT  277 

Young  People's  Societies  of  Christian  Endeavor. 
Why  should  there  not  be  a  thousand  societies  of 
this,  or  some  equally  useful  organization  for  the 
training  of  young  people  in  work  for  Christ  and 
the  Church  ? 

So  with  the  varied  forces  of  the  great  army 
of  Christ  the  work  goes  on,  but  in  a  campaign 
there  is  constant  need  of  reenforceraents  and 
supplies,  and  "  there  is  no  discharge  in  that 
war."  This  is  good  scripture  for  the  Christian. 
Instead  of  "  retrench,"  let  our  battle  cry  be 
along  the  whole  line  of  organization  at  home  — 
"  reenforce." 

Appeal  to  the  Christian  Women  of  America.  — 
Finally,  we  appeal  to  the  Christian  women  of 
America  to  cease  no  prayer  or  effort  in  behalf 
of  their  sisters  in  the  island  empire,  for  Japan 
is  woman's  land  of  hope  for  Asia.  Despite 
tlie  shadows  yet  remaining  on  the  moral  land- 
scape, the  changes  wrought  within  fifty  years 
in  Japan's  attitude  to  women  seem  miraculous. 
Both  to  Perry  and  Harris,  the  determined  words 
of  the  Yedo  government  were,  "  No  foreign 
women  allowed  in  Japan."  The  Confucian 
envoy  of  1853  even  wished  to  put  this  prohibi- 
tion into  the  treaty,  whii-h  proposition  Perry 
bluntly  refused.  Paganism  in  any  and  every 
form  had  no  word  of  hope  for  Japan's  daugh- 
ters. Buddhism  taught  tliat  if  perfectly  fulfil- 
ling the  law  on  earth,  a  woman  might  inherit  joy 
hereafter  only  by  being  reborn  as  a  man.  Con- 
fucianism knew  her  only  as  a  thing  for  use  or 
contempt.      Yet  as  compared  with  other  Asian 


278  DUX  CHRISTUS 

lands,  how  happy  her  life,  how  high  her  position ! 
Behold  in  our  day  the  wonderful  transforma- 
tion in  public  opinion  !  The  consort  of  the 
Mikado  is  an  empress,  not  in  the  old  shadowy 
sense,  but  while  honored  as  no  other  Japanese 
empress  ever  was,  is  a  real  model  in  personality, 
character,  and  influence  for  the  women  of  the  na- 
tion. How  hopeful  is  the  people  so  marked  by 
an  open-mindedness  and  willingness  to  change 
tradition  for  truth,  prejudice  for  new  light,  and 
old  customs  for  genuine  reform  !  To-day,  while 
over  three  million  boys  are  at  school,  there  are 
also  over  two  million  girls,  and  of  the  ninety-two 
thousand  teachers  in  the  country,  twelve  thou- 
sand, and  in  the  higher  schools  two-thirds  of  the 
teaching  force,  are  women.  All  over  the  land 
women's  clubs  are  springing  up,  and  this  must 
mean  a  leavening  of  the  neighborhoods  and 
the  raising  of  public  taste  and  opinion  wher- 
ever their  local  habitation  may  be.  Yet  let 
us  beware  of  supposing  that  intellectual  light 
and  social  advantages  mean  necessarily  moral 
purity  or  spiritual  elevation.  Indeed,  it  is  an 
open  secret  that  in  the  interest  of  idolatry, 
priestcraft,  and  a  false  philosophy  that  ignores 
the  Creator,  the  Buddhist  priesthood  have 
closely  imitated  Christian  methods  and  institu- 
tions. They  are  determined  to  hold  the  nation 
in  thrall,  and  they  are  subtle  enough  for  any- 
thing in  mind-stuff  or  in  handicraft.  In  the 
long  run,  our  great  conflict  will  be  with  these  men 
who  can  make  the  worse  appear  the  better  rea- 
son.     Indeed,  they  would  gladly  adopt  Jesus 


FORCES  IN  THE  CONFLICT  279 

Christ  as  a  new  avatar  or  incarnation  of  the 
Huddha,  and  are  quite  ready  to  seize  the  levers 
of  Christian  machinery  in  order  to  hold  all 
forces  under  their  own  control. 

However  bright  the  picture  in  spots,  gross 
darkness  yet  lies  upon  the  land.  The  forces  of 
evil  are  not  easily  vanquished.  Of  the  one-half 
of  the  Japanese  people,  twenty-five  millions  of 
souls  in  Japan,  only  a  few  thousands  at  best  are 
as  yet  touched  by  gospel  light.  The  overwhelm- 
ing majority  lie  in  superstition  and  are  still  in 
the  low  estate  in  which  both  moral  and  immoral 
slavery  is  possible.  Looking  at  the  realities,  the 
author  would  urge,  as  his  closing  words,  what 
he  has  so  often  with  the  living  voice  begged 
Christian  women  to  do,  and  that  is  to  relax  no 
prayer  or  effort  for  their  sisters  in  Japan,  and  to 
toil  on  in  wisdom  and  in  love  in  this  field, 
where  success  is  surely  waiting.  It  is  said  of 
one  wlio  bears  an  increasingly  sinning  name  in 
our  country's  history,  that  when  once,  as  a 
young  man,  he  saw  iniquity  sheltering  itself 
under  what  was  called  an  "  institution,"  he  de- 
clared that  if  ever  he  had  an  opportunity,  he 
would  "smite  it  hard."  Our  appeal  is  to 
Christian   women — smite  paganism  hard! 

Only  in  the  Christ  lands  has  woman  any  hope 
of  entering  into  her  full  inheritance,  as  help- 
meet for  man,  as  fellow-sharer  of  the  image  of 
(to(1,  as  co-worker  with  Christ.  Until  the  love 
of  (lod  reigns  by  faith  in  the  hearts  of  the  whole 
Japanese  nation,  we  need  not  expect  Japanese 
womaidiood  to  reach   the    exalted  position   of 


280  DUX  CHRISTUS 

honor  and  usefulness  which  woman  occupies  in 
our  own  land.  May  the  Master  be  able  to  say 
of  each  individual  worker  in  his  Name,  "  She 
hath  done  what  she  could." 


FORCES  IN  THE  CONFLICT  281 

LITERARY   ILLUSTRATIONS 

A  Woman's  Insight 

Japan  has  set  the  doors  of  her  secret  shrines  ajar  so 
that  we  can  at  any  rate  take  the  first  step  in  wisdom  and 
realize  how  little  we  know.  Those  who,  like  myself, 
have  had  the  privilege  of  spending  long  years  in  the 
conntry,  with  liberty  to  "  visit  any  spot  and  remain  in  it 
for  any  length  of  time,"  become  gradually  aware  of  the 
many-sided  and  complex  character  of  the  people,  —  simple 
to  frankness,  yet  full  of  unexpected  reserves,  of  hidden 
strengths,  and  dignities  of  power  never  flaunted  before 
the  eyes  of  the  world.  .  .  .  That  wliich  you  exjiect  from 
them  is  that  which  tliey  would  wish  to  show  you,  and 
very  likely  all  that  you  will  ever  see.  But  if  any  shared 
emotion  suddtmly  draws  you  closer  together,  then  the 
veil  is  rent  away,  you  behold  the  springs  of  action,  and, 
lo !  they  are  tliose  which  have  swayed  you  in  the  best 
moments  of  your  life;  and,  if  you  are  honest  and  humble- 
minded,  you  will  say  in  your  heart,  "  Brother,  I  misjudged 
thee.  Perhaps  thou  art  as  near  to  wisdom  and  to  love 
as  I !  "  —  Mrs.  Hugh  Fraser. 


The  Plka  of  a  Jatanksk 

Yet  we  wonder  and  staTid  dismayed  sometimes  before 
the  curious  misconceptions  of  our  real  motives  which 
obtain  in  European  countries  and  here,  also,  in  certain 
circles.  It  is  tr\ie  that  American  scholarship  has  been 
the  foremost  to  elucidate  our  civilization,  that  American 
statesmen  are  conversant  with  the  inner  significance  of 
our  politics,  that  in  tiie  field  of  art  America  can  boast  of 
the  fiiu'st  collections  of  Japanese  work  outside  of  Japan. 
But  to  those  who  have  not  studied  the  mental  history 
of  the  Japanese  revival,  the  attitude  of  the  Island  Empire 
must  ever  remain  a  paradox.  To  them  it  can  be  but  the 
country  of  flowers  and  ironclads,  of  dashing  heroism  and 
delicate  teacups,  the   strange  borderland  where  quaint 


282  DUX  CHRISTUS 

shadows  meet  each  other  in  the  twilight  of  the  Old 
and  the  New  World.  They  are  apt  to  forget  that  the 
same  untiring  spirit  which  creates  the  subtle  beauty  of 
the  pottery  of  Satsuma  guides  us  also  in  the  thorough, 
extreme  care  we  now  bestow  upon  our  war  equipment. 
And  our  love  for  the  cherry  blossom,  which  we  cherish 
as  the  national  emblem,  is  not  only  for  its  jewelled 
efflorescence,  but  for  the  freedom  with  which  it  gives 
itself  to  the  winds  in  glorious  self-sacrifice. 

—  Kakuzo  Okakura. 


The  Resolution  of  the  First  Missionary 
Conference,  1872 

Whereas  the  Church  of  Christ  is  one  in  him,  and  the 
diversities  of  denominations  among  Protestants  are  but 
accidents,  which,  though  not  affecting  the  vital  unity  of 
believers,  obscure  the  oneness  of  the  church  in  Christen- 
dom and  much  more  in  pagan  lands,  where  the  history  of 
the  divisions  cannot  be  understood ;  and  whereas  we,  as 
Protestant  missionaries,  desire  to  secure  uniformity  in 
our  modes  and  methods  of  evangelization  so  as  to  avoid 
as  far  as  possible  the  evil  arising  from  marked  differ- 
ences ;  we  therefore  take  this  earliest  opportunity  offered 
by  the  Convention  to  agree  that  we  will  use  our  influence 
to  secure  as  far  as  possible  identity  of  name  and  organi- 
zation in  the  native  churches  in  the  formation  of  which 
we  may  be  called  to  assist,  that  name  being  as  catholic 
as  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  tlie  organization  being  that 
wherein  the  government  of  each  church  shall  be  by  the 
ministry  and  eldership  of  the  same,  with  the  concurrence 
of  the  brethren.  —  Dr.  S.  R.  Brown. 

It  is  by  interpreting  a  people's  traditions,  by  carefully 
listening  to  the  mysterious  teachings  of  the  wise  men 
who,  in  remote  ages,  guided  its  infancy,  that  one  is  apt 
to  discover  the  early  promise  of  its  future.  —  Le  Gendre. 

The  moral  world  is  also  a  magnet  with  its  two  oppo- 
site poles  on  the  opposite  banks  of  the  Pacific,  the  demo- 


FORCES  IN   THE  CONFLICT  283 

cratic,  aggressive,  inductive  America,  and  the  imperial, 
conservative,  and  deductive  China.  There  have  been 
constant  attempts  for  the  union  of  these  magnetic  cur- 
rents. .  .  .  Grander  tasks  await  the  young  Japan,  who 
has  the  best  of  Europe  and  the  best  of  Asia  at  her  com- 
mand. At  her  toucli  the  circuit  is  completed,  and  the 
healthy  fluid  shall  overflow  the  earth  !  — Uciiimura. 

To  reconcile  the  East  with  the  West ;  to  be  the  advocate 
of  the  East,  and  the  harbinger  of  the  West :  this  we 
believe  to  be  the  mission  which  Japan  is  called  upon  to 

fulfil.  —  UCUIMURA. 


Prayer  for  Unity 


Almighty  God,  our  Heavenly  Father,  who  hast  pur- 
chased an  universal  Church  by  the  precious  blood  of  Thy 
Son,  we  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  called  us  into  the 
same,  and  made  us  members  of  Christ,  children  of  God, 
and  inlieritors  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  Look  now 
we  beseech  Thee  upon  Thy  Clmrch,  and  take  from  it 
division  and  strife  and  whatsoever  hinders  godly  union 
and  concord.  Fill  us  with  Thy  love,  and  guide  us  by 
Thy  Holy  Spirit  that  we  may  attain  to  that  oneness  for 
which  Thy  Son,  our  Lord  Jesns  Christ,  prayed  on  the 
night  of  His  betrayal,  who  with  Thee  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  liveth  and  reigneth,  one  God,  world  without  end. 
Amen. 


T  firmly  believe  we  must  have  religion  as  the  basis  of 
our  national  and  personal  welfare.  No  matter  how  large 
an  army  or  navy  we  may  have,  unless  we  Iiave  righteous- 
ness at  tlic  foundation  of  our  national  existence  we  shall 
fall  short  of  the  highest  success.  I  do  not  hesitate  to 
say  tliat  we  must  rely  upon  religion  for  our  highest  wel- 
fare. And  when  I  look  about  me  to  see  what  religion 
we  may  best  rely  upon,  I  am  convinced  that  tiie  religion 
of  Christ  is  the  one  most  full  of  strength  and  promi.se  for 
the  nation  and  the  individual.  —  Baron  Map:,jima. 


284  DUX  CURI8TU8 

There  are  several  advantages  to  be  born  a  heathen. 
Heathenism  I  consider  as  an  undeveloped  stage  of  hu- 
manity, developable  into  a  higher  and  perfecter  stage 
than  that  attained  by  any  form  of  Christianity.  There 
are  perennial  hopes  in  heathen  nations  still  untouched 
by  Christianity ;  hopes  as  of  the  youth  venturing  for  life 
grander  than  that  of  all  his  predecessors.  And  though 
my  nation  is  more  than  two  thousand  years  old  in  history, 
it  is  yet  a  child  in  Christ,  and  all  the  hopes  and  possibili- 
ties of  the  future  lie  shrouded  in  its  rapidly  developing 
days.  Thrice  thankful  am  I  that  I  can  witness  many  such 
days.  Then  I  could  feel  the  power  of  the  New  Truth 
more.  What  to  the  "  born  Christian  "  sounded  as  time- 
worn  commonplaces,  were  to  me  new  revelations,  and 
called  forth  from  me  all  the  praises  sung  perhaps  by  our 
first  parents,  when,  — 

"  'Neath  a  curtain  of  translucent  dew, 
Bathed  in  the  rays  of  the  srreat  setting  flame, 
Hesperus,  with  the  host  of  Heaven,  came, 
And  lo!  creation  widened  in  man's  view." 

In  myself  I  could  witness  the  changes  and  progress  of 
the  eighteen  Christian  centuries,  and  when  I  came  out 
of  all  my  strifes,  I  found  myself  a  sympathetic  man,  ac- 
quainted as  I  was  with  all  the  stages  of  spiritual  develop- 
ment from  idol  worship  up  to  the  soul's  emancipation  in 
the  crucified  Son  of  God.  Such  visions  and  experiences 
are  not  vouchsafed  to  all  of  God's  children,  and  we  who 
ai'e  called  in  the  eleventh  hour  have  at  least  this  privilege 
to  make  up  for  all  the  loss  of  having  remained  in  darkness 
so  long.  .  .  . 

The  raison  d'etre  of  Christian  missions?  I  think  I  have 
stated  it  already.  It  is  the  raison  d'etre  of  Christianity 
itself.  Said  David  Livingstone  :  "  The  spirit  of  missions 
is  the  spirit  of  our  Master,  the  very  genius  of  his  religion. 
A  diffusive  philanthropy  is  Christianity  itself.  It  re- 
quires perpetual  propagation  to  attest  its  genuineness." 
Once  it  ceases  to  propagate,  it  ceases  to  live.  Have  you 
ever  thought  why  it  is  the  God  leaves  so  large  a  part  of 
the  human  race  still  in  the  darkness  of  heathenism?    I 


FORCES  IN   THE  CONFLICT  285 

think  it  is  that  your  Christianity  may  live  and  grow  by 
your  efforts  to  diminish  the  darkness.  .  .  . 

Indeed  I  can  say  witli  all  truthfulness  that  I  saw  good 
men  only  in  Christendom.  Brave  men,  honest  men, 
righteous  men,  are  not  wanting  in  heathendom,  but  I 
douV)t  whether  good  men,  —  by  that  I  mean  those  men 
summed  up  in  that  one  English  word  which  has  no  other 
equivalent  in  any  other  language:  gentleman,  —  I  doubt 
whether  such  is  possible  without  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  mould  us.  "The  Christian,  God  Almighty's 
gentleman."  —  he  is  a  unique  figure  in  this  world,  inde- 
scribably beautiful,  noble,  and  lovable. 

—  Kaxzo  Uchimura. 


Ills  Matksty,  tiik  Empkror,  Mutsuhito 

Politically  and  actually  the  emperor  leads  his  country- 
men in  new  ways,  and  is,  in  truth,  a  man  of  strong  and 
fine  character,  one  of  the  most  upright  and  progressive 
sovereigns  of  the  world.  It  was  innate  power  that  made 
him  what  he  is,  for  his  boyhood  was  spent  in  demoral- 
izing inaction  under  the  tutelage  of  the  Shogun,  heredi- 
tary regent  and  first  subject  of  the  throne.  Until  lie  was 
sixteen,  it  is  said,  the  emperor  was  carried  from  room 
to  Too\n  ;  he  never  stood  on  his  feet  or  even  fed  himself. 
But  when  freedom  came  at  that  age  he  sprang  to  those  un- 
used feet  with  a  bound,  rid  himself  and  his  country  of  the 
w^eakening  Shogunat*',  and  has  since  then  steadily  pressed 
forward  in  the  van  of  civilization,  readily  limiting  his 
own  power  by  the  granting  of  a  parliament  and  a  con- 
stitution, and  in  all  things  considering  his  country  before 
himself.  He  may  firstly  be  esteemed  a  patriot  in  the 
loftiest  sense  of  the  word. 


Early  Gifts  and  Prayers  for  Japan 

The  American  Board  has  recently  received  a  legacy  of 
^.")00  by  the  will  of  Mrs.  Sarah  B.  Fisher,  late  of  West- 
boro,  Mass.,  who  made  this  donation,  as  she  expresses  it 


286  DUX  CHRISTUS 

in  her  will,  "  having  a  desire  to  do  all  I  can  for  the  cause 
of  Christ." 

This  bequest  calls  to  mind  again  a  remarkable  incident 
in  missionary  history.  Mrs.  Fisher  was  one  of  the  origi- 
nal members  of  a  circle  formed  fifty-five  years  ago  (1829), 
at  Brookline,  Mass.,  which  had  for  its  object  the  evangeli- 
zation of  Japan.  More  than  forty  years  before  the 
American  Board  sent  its  first  laborer  to  Japan,  while  that 
empire  was  absolutely  closed  against  foreigners,  and 
when  almost  nothing  was  known  concerning  its  condition 
or  its  people,  this  company  of  godly  women  met  regularly 
to  labor  and  pray  for  that  distant  land.  They  laid  aside 
their  gifts  for  a  mission  for  more  than  a.generation  before 
it  was  begun.  Many  have  wondered  how  it  happened 
that  such  a  deep  interest  in  a  country  so  entirely  isolated 
from  the  civilized  world  should  have  been  awakened  in 
the  minds  of  the  members  of  that  sewing-circle.  It  is 
said  that  a  curiously  wrought  Japanese  basket,  on  the 
table  of  the  Christian  merchant  (Hon.  William  Ropes) 
at  whose  house  they  met,  was  the  occasion  of  their  choos- 
ing this  particular  object  for  their  gifts  and  prayers. 
But  how  many  have  seen  rare  and  beautiful  articles 
brought  from  distant  and  pagan  lands,  and  yet  have  not 
been  moved  to  pray  and  toil  for  the  people  of  those 
lands !  These  Christian  hearts  saw  behind  that  basket 
the  hands  that  made  it,  and  though  they  knew  so  little 
about  the  dwellers  in  that  mysterious  island,  they  knew 
this  much  —  that  they  needed  the  light  of  the  gospel. 
What  though  the  doors  were  closed  and  barred,  and  the 
Japanese  put  a  price  on  the  head  of  any  one  who  should 
be  suspected  of  harboring  a  Christian  —  these  women  be- 
lieved that  these  people  were  yet  to  be  evangelized.  Was 
not  Japan  one  of  those  "  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  " 
which  were  given  to  Christ  for  a  ''possession  "?  And  so 
they  brought  their  gifts  and  offered  their  prayers  for  the 
Japan  mission,  when  as  yet  there  was  not  one  ray  of  light 
except  from  God's  Word.  It  was  the  instinct  of  Chris- 
tian love  which  guided  them;  the  same  holy  impulse, 
wiser  than  the  wisdom  of  men,  which  led  to  the  breaking 
of  the  alabaster  box  at  the  Saviour's  feet. 


FORCES  IN   THE  CONFLICT  287 

The  association  formed  at  Brookline  during  the  years 
of  its  existence  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  American 
Board  over  $600  for  Japan,  Before  the  time  had  arrived 
when  the  money  could  be  expended  for  the  purpose  for 
which  it  was  given,  it  amounted,  with  the  interest,  to 
$410-1.2.3,  which  sum  was  set  apart  for  the  beginning  of 
tlie  mission.  Were  there  not  prayers  as  well  as  alms 
which  came  up  for  a  memorial  before  God  respecting  this 
mission  ?  There  is  something  amazing  about  the  opening 
of  Japan  and  the  progress  of  the  empire  within  the  past 
fifteen  years.  The  political  and  social  changes  are  not 
more  marvellous  than  are  those  of  a  religious  character. 
Not  only  ai'e  the  doors  open,  but  there  is  to-day  no  theme 
of  more  popular  interest  than  Christianity.  How  can  all 
this  sudden  transformation  be  accounted  for?  No  Chris- 
tian can  doubt  that  the  hand  of  God  is  in  it.  May  we 
not  believe  that  he  who,  while  governing  nations,  yet  has 
respect  mi  to  the  cries  of  his  people,  did  remember  the 
faith  and  prayers  of  those  who,  in  the  days  of  its  dark- 
ness, pleaded  for  Japan  ?  Christ,  when  on  earth  among 
men,  wrought  miracles  irhen  he  srac  (heir  faith.  Was  not 
the  faith  of  these  women  who  prayed  and  gave  for  Japan, 
as  wonderful  as  was  that  of  the  centurion,  at  which 
Christ  marvelled?  And  have  we  not  all  seen  a  miracle 
happening  in  the  land  for  which  they  prayed? 

—  E.  E.  Stronc;,  in  The  3Iissionari/  Herald  (1883). 


288  BUX  CHRISTUS 

THEMES  FOR  STUDY  OR  DISCUSSION. 

I.    The  Christian  Samurai,  Man  and  Woman. 
II.   The  United  States  as  Mediator  of  Peace  between 

Nations. 
HI.   Leaders  of  Thought  and  Action  in  Japan. 
IV.   Issues  and  Results  of  the  Russo-Japanese  War. 
V.   Outlook   for  Japanese  Woman  in   the  Twentieth 
Century. 
VI.   Results  of  a  Defective  Sense  of  Personality. 
VII.   The  Christian  Merchant  at  the  Seaports. 
VIII.   Baneful   Influence    of    Nominal    Christianity    in 
Pagan  Lands. 
IX.   Japan's  Moral  Progress  in  a  Half-century. 
X.    The  Spirit  of  Unity  in  Japanese  Missions. 
XI.   Japan's  Educational  Record  in  Forty  Years. 
XII.  Japan  a  Factor  in  the  Reconciliation  and  Union 
of  the  Orient  and  Occident. 

LIST  OF  BOOKS 

W.  P.  Watson.     "Japan:   Aspects  and  Destinies."    E. 

P.  Dutton  &  Co.     (1904.) 
Alfred  Stead.     "Japan  To-day."     E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co. 

(1902.) 
M.   L.   Gordon.     "  Thirty   Eventful  Years   in  Japan." 

Boston,  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.     (1900.) 
L.  Hearn.  "  Kokoro."  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.     (1896.) 
C.   Lanman.     "  Leading  Men  of  Japan."     D.  Lothrop 

Co.     (188.3.) 
M.  Huish.     "  Japan  and  Its  Art."     Fine  Arts  Society. 

London. 
Louis   Gorse.      "  Japanese   Art."      Belford  Clarke  Co. 

(1891.) 
A.  C.  Maclay.     "  Mito  Yashiki :  A  Tale  of  Old  Japan." 

G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.     (1889.) 
G.  Curzon.     "  Problems  of  the  Far  East."     Longmans  & 

Co.     (1894.) 
AV.    E.    Griffis.      "  In   the   Mikado's   Service."      W.   A. 

Wilde  Co.     (1901.) 


APPENDIX 

TWENTY-ONE   LEADING   MISSIONARY 
PERIODICALS 

Assemblij  Herald  (Pres.),  U.  S. 

Baptist  Mhsiunary  Magazine  (A.  B.  M.  U.),  U.  S. 

Chronicle  London  Missionary  Society,  England. 

C /lurch  Missionary  Inlelliyencer  (C.  M.  S.),  England. 

Foreign  Missionary  Tidings  (Pres.),  Canada. 

P'rlentls'  Missionary  Adcocate  (Friends),  U.  S. 

IleliAng  Hand  (W.  R.  F.  M.  S.),  U.  S. 

The    Japan    Evangelist     (Interdenominational).    Tokio, 

Japan. 
Life  and  Light  for  Women  (Woman's  Board,  Cong.),  U.  S. 
Messenger  and  Record  (Pres.),  England. 
Mission  Studies  (Board  of  Interior,  Cong.),  U.  S. 
Missionary  Gleaner  (Dutch  Reformed),  U.  S. 
Missionary  Ilendd  (Cong.),  U.  S. 
Missio7iary  Link  (Woman's  Union),  U.  S. 
Missionary  Outlook  (M.  E.),  Canada. 
Missionary  llerieic  of  the    World  (Interdenominational), 

U.  S." 
Missionary  Tidings  (Christian).  U.  S. 
Spirit  of  Missions  (P.  E.  Church).  U.  S. 
Woman's  Missionary  Friend  (M.  E.),  U.  S. 
]\'ii)nan's  Work  for  Woman  (Pres.),  U.  S. 
Women's   ^fissionary   Magazine    (United    Free    Church), 

Scotland. 


289 


290 


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INDEX 


Abbott,  Edward,  ."57,  95,  140. 
Aborigiues,  Xi,  IXl-lKS. 
Adoption,  208,  'SM,  245. 
Adzuiiia,  54. 
Agriculture,  14-1(),  5(1. 
Ainos,  .'«,  49.  182-l«o. 
Alcoc'k,  Sir  Rutherford,  7(5,  83. 
.\nierieaii.s,  28.  73-75,  185. 
Ancestral  sacrifices,  108,  109. 
Anjiro.  t!2. 
Anti-('}iristian    edicts,  92,   VM, 

i:i7,  !.")»;.  l(j."). 
Art,  2,  124,  135,  244,  245,  255, 

281. 
Asiatic  Society  of  Japan,  84. 
Association  of  ideas,  92. 
Aston,  G.  \\.,  40,  90,  92,  140. 

Baby  life,  i;;4.  205,  21^!. 
Bacon,  Alice  M.,  85.  '.Xi,  97,  202, 

2:n,  2:52,  2:w. 

"Banzai,"  82. 

Baptists  in  Japan.  lOS,  170,  171. 

Batcbelor,  J.,  1S2-185. 

Bcaury.  love  of,  24,  282,  28(>. 

Bell,  E.  F..  3S. 

Bells.  122,  177. 

Benevolence  in  Japan,  270,  271. 

Berry.  Dr.,  197,  2(i9. 

Bible  in  Japanese,  72,  148,  150, 

l.'-.',>-lii2.  KiS.  20<t.  250. 
liickel.  Captain,  172. 
Blind,  273. 
ISonzes,  US.  Kjfi. 
Briti.sli.  2S.  8:?,  M. 
Brown,  S.  K.,  152,  215,  C13,  2^2. 
Buddhism,  20,  59,  60,  61,  86,  90. 


91,  101,  112,  117, 118-129,  143, 
165,  258,  277,  278. 
Bushido,  56,  57,  95. 

Calendar,  2,  164. 
Campbell,  William,  181,  182. 
Canadian  Methodists,  168. 
Canadian    Pres.   Mission,   179, 

181. 
Chamberlain,  B.  H.,  27,40, 187, 

234. 
Characteristics,    92,    135,    259, 

278. 
Charter  Oath,  80,  81. 
Chastity,  219. 
Chinese,  114,  132. 
Chinese    and   Japanese,  22,  23, 

114,  132,  178,  180,  240. 
Christianity  in  Japan,  42,  107, 

13(j,  137,  139,  143,  189,  257 
Chronolojr^k-.  2,  26,  47,  53,  164. 
Churches,   tirst  in  Japan,  1(k{, 

m>,  169,  282. 
Civil  Code,  205),  247,  268. 
Civilization  of  Japan,  60. 
Clarke,  W.  S.,  2(». 
Cleanliness,  lOt;,  111,  180. 
Clement    E.  W..  29,  164. 
Climate,  9,  32,  lio. 
Coast  line,  19,  20. 
Columbus,  (K). 

Commercial  integrity,  189,  250. 
Confucianism  in  Japan,  75,  86, 

87,  90,  117,  129-132,  219,  238. 
Congregational  churches,  172, 

173. 
Constitution  of  Japan,  89. 


293 


294 


INDEX 


Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  78. 

Council  of  cooperating  mis- 
sions, 186. 

Daimios,  78,  79. 
Davis,  J.  O.,  142,  157,  192,  273. 
Deshima,  71. 
Dikes,  12,  15. 
Divorce,  209,  211,  239. 
Doshisha,  172,  2G5,  272. 
Dutch  in  Japan,  70-72, 84,  179, 
182. 

Earthquakes,  17-19,  35. 
Echizen,  78,  80,  88,  138. 
Edicts,  anti-Christian,  270. 
Education  for  women,  85,  215- 

220. 
Education  in  Japan,  188,  258, 

265,  278. 
Embassy  round  the  world,  166- 

168. 
Emperor,  see  Mikado. 
Empresses,  27,  82,  83,  233,  235, 

277. 
English  Pres.  mission,  181,  182. 
Episcopal    missions,    153,  168, 

170,  171. 
Eta,  87,  138,  243. 
Ethics.  86,  131, 175. 
Europeans  in  Japan,  62-73. 

Fairy-tales,  see  Folk-lore. 

Family  life,  131,  1.34,  201-212. 

Famines,  61,  132-134,  271. 

Farmers,  .39,  57,  88. 

Fatalism,  2.58. 

Fertility,  13. 

Feudalism,  2,  56,  01,  87,  88,  127, 

130. 
Fish,  20. 

Flowing  invocation,  20<). 
Folk-lore,  6,  19,  .31,  53,  107,  207. 
Foreigners  in  Japan,  4,  80,  89, 

250,  251,  272. 
Foreign  helpers,  81,  83. 


Formosa,  6,  31-33, 179-182. 

Foxes,  110,  156. 

Eraser,  Mrs.  Hugh,  281. 

French,  in  Japan,  28,  81,  85, 

Fuji  san,  16,  36. 

Fukin,  78,  82,  88,  138,  217. 

Fukuzawa,  78,  167. 

Gambling,  243. 
Geisha,  234,  255. 
Germans  in  Japan,  84. 
Gods,  21,  25. 
Gordon,  M.  L.,  158,  162. 
Gratitude,  240,  241,  263. 
Greene,  D.  C,  73. 
Gulick,  S.  L.,  157. 

Harada,  T.,  92,  187,  191. 
Harris,  Townsend,  22,  76,  258. 
Haruko,  83,  233. 
Head  hunting,  33. 
"Heathen,"42,  255,  284. 
Hepburn,  J.  C,  161,  269, 
Heredity,  208,  234,  245. 
Hideyoshi,  see  Taiko. 
Hired  help,  81. 
History,  26,  40,  53,  55,  90, 
Hokusai,  205. 
Hollanders'    homes,    128,   194, 

201,  208-213,  247,  248,  261. 
Hondo,  4,  51. 
Husband's    power,    211,    212, 

248. 
Hymnal,  214. 
Hymns,  140,  214,  241, 

Idealism,  41. 
Ideals,  237, 
Idolatry,  21. 

Immorality,  77,  l.'iO,  157, 
Impersonality,  90,  244-246. 
Impressions  of  Japan,  37-39, 
Industries,  21,  22,  192,  228. 
Islands,  5. 
lyeyasu,  68-70,  132. 

Japanese  abroad,  34,  39,  64,  67. 


INDEX 


295 


Japanese  characteristics,  37-43, 

9;W)7. 
Japanese  home  missions,  173. 
Jesuits,  VA,  Wj. 
Ju-jutsu,  207. 

Kamakura,  123. 
Kami,  25,  51,  105,  126. 
Kioto,  80,  S7,  10(;,  138. 
Kobe,  lt)3,  217. 
Kobo,  124-127. 
Kojilvi,27,  28,  .-jI. 
K(jrea,  51,  54. 
Kunianioto  Band,  102,  266. 
Kumi-ai  churclies,  173. 
Kuro-Slnwo,  9,  11. 

I^ack  of  idealism,  40,  41. 

Landscape, 14-16. 

LanKuase  of  Japan,  179,  200, 

218,  247,  248,  249,  2.50,  275. 
Learned,  O.  W.,  274. 
Literature,  40,  91,  200,  275. 
Loo  Choo,  .syp  Kiu  Kiu. 
Loyalty,  96,  130,  246. 

Mackay  of  Formosa,  180,  181. 

Maclay,  K.  S.,  168. 

Maejinia.  Baron,  283. 

Marria^'e.  2()it-212. 

Martin,  W.  A.  P.,  1.58,  159,  274. 

Materialism,  41. 

Matsudaira,  78. 

MoCarlfc,  I).  B.,  273. 

Mcdii'al  work,  160-161,268-270. 

.Meiji,  1(!4. 

Mcmlc/  Pinto,  62. 

Merchants,  2.52. 

Methodists  in  Japan,  168,  170, 

173,  174. 
.Mikado,   .55,  97,   10(),   108,   109. 

114,  117,  1C4. 
Mikados,  female,  200. 
Mori,  A.,  ;55,  91,  1.59. 
Mount  Morrison,  16,  .32. 
Mountains,  12. 
Murray,  Dr.  David,  82. 


Music,  214. 

Mutsuhito,  74,  79,  80-83. 

Nagasaki,  70, 168,  174. 

Nakamura,  78,  167. 

Names  of  Japan,  8. 

Naruse,  President,  267. 

Neeshima,  265. 

Netherlands,  12. 

Nicolai,  36. 

Nihongi,  28. 

Nippon  Sei  Kokwai,  170. 

Nirvana, 119. 

Nitobe,  L,  iMJ,  97,233,206. 

Nobunaga,  64. 

Nurses,  197,  269. 

Oath  of  emperor,  80,  81. 

Okakura,  K.,  282. 

Okuma,  Count,  241,  258,  272. 

Opium,  258. 

Orphanages,  272. 

Osaka,  68,  82,  121,  163,  185. 

Osaka  Exposition,  22,  121,  264. 

Palestine,  .35. 
Parkes,  Sir  Harry,  83. 
Patriotism,   10(i,  107,  175,  249, 

2.5(). 
Perry,  Commodore,  71,  74,  75, 

139,  140,  178,  227,240,  241. 
Pescadores,  6,  32. 
Pettee,  I.  H.,271. 
Philosophy,  91. 
Pierson,  L.  H.,  Mrs.,  .38. 
Population,  4,  31,  1:3.3-1.35,  279. 
Portuguese,  .31.  ()2. 
Prayer,  212,  213,  283.  286. 
Presbyterians    in    Japan,    1.54, 

168."  170. 
Presents,  21,  74. 
Printing,  M.  172,  27.3-276. 
Prison  reform,  228,  272,  273. 
Prostitution,  204,  219,  227,  228, 

24<i,  -im. 

Proverbs,  79,  165,  177,  183,  204, 
200,  226. 


296 


INDEX 


Pruyn,  Mrs.,  216. 

Races  in  Japan,  30-34,  50. 

Racial  qualities,  29. 

Rain,  9,  32. 

Red  Cross  Society,  271. 

Reformed  churches,  171. 

Revival  of  pure  Shinto,  113. 

Rice,  1,  15,  21. 

Riobu  Shinto,  112,  113,  115. 

Rituals,  142,  184. 

Riu  Kiu,  8,  30,  31,  172, 17()-179. 

Rivers,  12. 

Roman  Christianity,  65,  07,  79, 

96,  101,  166,  179,  181. 
Russia,  34,   164,  165,   241,  242, 

261,  262. 
Ryu  Kyu,  see  Riu  Kiu. 

Salt,  111. 

Samurai,  56-58,  134,  243. 

Satsuma,  62,  64. 

Scherer,  J.  A.  B.,  211,  238. 

Schools,  75,  76,  138. 

Scriptures,  63. 

Scudder,  Doremus,  39. 

Sects  in  Buddhism,   122,   123, 

137. 
Sendai,  267. 

Shaw,  Archdeacon,  171. 
Shinto,  21,  61,  91,  101,  105-118, 

141. 
Shizoku,  57. 
Sin,  106,  126,  184,  256. 
Snow,  10. 
Soil,  13. 
Suicide,  205. 
Sun-goddess,  108. 

Taiko,  36,  64. 

Temperance  work,  226-228. 

Tokio,  82,  89,  166,  171,  2m,  270. 

Tokyo,  see  Tokio. 

Tori"-i,  110. 

Tourists,  255. 

Traditions,  51. 


I  Treaties,  75,  76,  79. 

Uchimura,  266,  283,  285. 
Unity  of  Christians,  170-172. 
Uyeuo  meeting,  169-170. 

Vassar  College,  166. 

Verbeck,  G.  F.,  81,  87, 162,  166, 

240. 
Villages,  14. 
Volcanoes,  16-18. 

Wakasa,  163. 
War  with  Russia,  185. 
Washington,  245. 
Weather,  9-11. 
Whitney,  W.  N.,  269. 
Williams,  C.  M.,  153. 
Williams,  S.  Wells,  151,  159. 
Woman  missionaries,  213,  223- 

229,  236. 

Woman's  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union,  227. 

Woman's  education,  85,  166, 
202-204,  236,  277,  278. 

Woman's  work  for  woman, 
85,  213-218,  223-229. 

Women  of  Japan,  122,  199-202, 

230,  235,  236,  251,  277. 

Xavier,  62,  63. 
Xipango,  60,  67,  101. 

Yamato,  50,  54. 
Yamato  Damashii,  5. 
Year  Periods,  164. 
Yedo,  68,  78. 
Yezo,  265,  266. 
Yokohama,  77,  221. 
Yokoi,  78,  82,  87,  KW.  165. 
Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation. 276. 
Y.  P.  S.  C.  E.,  276,  277. 

Zenkoji,  125. 


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Manchester  Guardian: 

"  As  what  it  professes  to  be,  a  brief  manual,  giving  only  the 
most  prominent  outlines  of  a  vast  subject,  the  book  is  simply  beyond 
praise.    Every  line  of  it  is  pregnant  with  interest,  suggestive,  fervid," 

Chicago  Tribune: 

"  It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  this  little  volume  gives,  in  a  simple, 
straightforward  manner,  a  vast  deal  of  information  about  the  history 
of  India,  about  its  peculiar  institutions,  and,  more  particularly,  about 
its  religions.  ...  It  contains  a  powerful  plea  for  the  support  of 
foreign  missions.  .  .  .  For  a  person  who  has  become  confused  in 
the  effort  to  separate  from  one  another  the  various  Eastern  religions, 
as  well  as  for  him  who  would  get  an  accurate  knowledge  of  Indian 
history,  Mrs.  Mason's  book  is  invaluable." 

Boston  Transcript: 

"  An  excellent  outline  study  of  India  from  the  Christian  stand- 
point, .  .  .  The  book  bears  evidence  of  wide  reading,  careful  r»- 
searcb,  and  a  thorough  understanding  of  its  subject" 

The  Universalist  Leader: 

"  Lux  Christi  is  indeed  but  an  outline  study  as  it  professes  to,  be, 
but  the  ordinary  reader  will  find  that  he  has  in  it  tlie  material  for  a 
true  and  intelligent  appreciation  of  India,  its  history,  its  social  life, 
the  evolution  of  its  various  religions.  The  book  is  very  fair  and 
tolerant,  giving  full  credit  to  religions  at  variance  with  the  teachings 
of  Christianity,  but  pointing  out  wisely,  dispassionately,  and  dis- 
criminatingly the  weakness,  the  impotency,  and  the  failure  of  these 
crucial  faiths." 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

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